Guardian Stalker
by imaginationstarie13
Summary: Fenton's world begins to unravel. His full attention is to finding the assassin who murdered Frank, leaving Joe alone to fend off a stalker. If only Fenton realized the connection between the assassin and the stalker...
1. Prologue

Yay! New story!  
This has been influenced by other things, such as Alex Rider and Wanted. I don't own either of those, nor the Hardy Boys.

Warning: there is violence in this. Not very graphic, but just let it be known people will be killed.

This is an AU of the Undercover Brothers portion of the series. Just to note, Frank was 15 (turning 16 that year) and Joe is 14 (turning 15 that year). I have been beyond convinced that ATAC would have figured out a way to let them have motorcycles at that age, so just to note, they have. However, Joe is not allowed as much freedom as Frank. Also, Fenton is still retired.

Also, the Jackie mentioned in this is the same one used for "Health Class Fun." This was really her "true purpose" in my stories, but I decided to use her for the other story because I didn't really have an idea for another character.

I've been working very hard on this, so I really hope you enjoy!

* * *

The man stood at the edge of the building, his black motorcycle helmet on the concrete ground. He didn't bother wearing it. His job had already been completed, so there was no point in concealing his identity.

Hawk was standing behind him. He had heard her walking over to him, but stopped a few feet away.

"You already killed him?" She knew the answer, but she wanted to hear him say it himself. He never understood why. When he had asked weeks ago, she had shrugged and said "To keep Snake from completely taking over."

It was silly. Snake had already won. It wasn't a complete takeover, either. There was almost a compromise of sorts in his mind. But in the end, Snake had more power, because that's what his job needed. Not his old life that he abandoned. No, he needed to rely on the part he called Snake.

He turned to look at her. "A single shot to the head. ATAC won't be able to trace me."

"So another bastard down." Hawk walked over to where he was standing, and looked over the edge of the building to the busy streets. "You know, all those people don't have a clue about a war that's going on all around them. They didn't know that the man walking next to them or a woman sitting next to them on the bus will be our next targets. And yet, the targets are shaking. They don't see the pattern. They don't see what we see."

"They should consider themselves lucky. Ignorance is always so blessed."

"No, it isn't. You're only saying that."

"True." He had once wished he was one of them, the unknowing people. But it was too late, and he knew what he had to do.

"So, anyone else in this city?" she asked, turning back to him.

"One man. He should be coming in a few minutes."

"You invited him." It wasn't a question, so he didn't respond. "Not compromising security or anything?"

"He doesn't know what this is about. He thinks he's going to meet a correspondent of the group."

"And said correspondent is dead."

"His body's with the police as we speak."

"Well, it's your show. I guess I'll watch." She picked up the helmet, and handed it to him. "You might not want to show your face just yet."

"I'll keep that in mind." He took the helmet, and placed it over his head. He flicked a small switch near the mouthpiece, and tested to see if the voice disguiser was working. When he was sure it was, he motioned for Hawk to find a place to hide, since she didn't bother to bring her helmet. She waited by the edge of the door leading to the roof, not being seen by anyone coming up from the stairs.

The minutes passed by slowly. The man amused himself by watching the scenes below the building, when a thought hit him.

"I didn't bring a silencer."

"Neither did I," Hawk said. "But we have a getaway vehicle less than a block away, and the fire escape is hidden from the general public. We'll be fine."

He nodded, and the two went back to waiting.

It almost got to the point where he wanted to find the man himself. The guy was five minutes late, five minutes longer than the patience that the two had. Eventually, the target was heard running up the stairs.

"Sorry I'm late-" The middle age man stopped completely as he realized who was standing before him. "You- you-"

"Nice to see you, Chris." Snake held up his gun, and aimed at the victim. "I hoped you would understand, but after what you did…"

"Get away from me, man." Chris pulled out a switchblade from his pocket. "I'm the fastest man on the team, and I know how to dodge and kill."

"That's nice to know." He pulled the trigger, and Chris fell over, dead.

"Poor, poor Chris," Hawk said, walking over to the body. "He shouldn't have tried to go after us in the first place."

"Let's go." Hawk followed Snake to the fire escape, not looking back at the scene at all.

-------------

The hotel was an hour away, but no one had followed them, so the trip back was uneventful. Snake was glad, in a way. He needed time to look over the information about his next targets, instead of trying to outmaneuver the police.

He turned on the television, and was instantly bombarded with news of a dead man found on a building, after people reported hearing a gunshot earlier.

"So we made the news," Hawk commented, typing away furiously at her laptop.

"So we have." He watched for a few more minutes before shutting off the television. He fell onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. The clacking on the keyboard of the laptop was the only noise that filled the room.

"Oh dear." Hawk got up, placing the portable computer on the nightstand. "Well, our path runs into Fenton Hardy's."

"Elaborate, please."

"Fenton Hardy is getting suspicious, if these reports are any reliable. Important people that help ATAC run smoothly are dying left and right, and he wants to know why." She sighed loudly. "He might even come out of retirement to save all the kiddes."

"That is troubling." He sat up, slouching so that his chin touched his folded hands propped on his knees.

"Back to Bayport for us, I guess." Hawk was about to close her laptop, before pausing and looking at him. "Snake, do you feel any regret?"

"For what?"

"Killing Frank Hardy."

He sighed. "He was in the way. If we allowed him to live, then our whole mission would be ruined." He looked straight into her eyes. "Do you have any remorse for killing Jackie?"

"A little. But I killed Jackie with love. You killed Frank, cold blood."

"No, not cold blood." He stood up. "I gave him a choice in the end. He brought his fate upon himself."

"So what about his family now?" Snake didn't answer, so Hawk continued. "Fenton and Joseph will most likely go after you now that we have to interfere."

"We break them down slowly, then. From the inside."

"You already have a plan."

"I thought of something, yes. You need to dye your hair, though. And maybe get color contacts."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah." He went through his bag that sat next to the bed, and pulled out a hardcover book. He tossed it to her. "Read all of this, and try to memorize some of the stuff."

Hawk opened the first page. "Frank Hardy's journal?"

Snake nodded. "I managed to get a hold of it. I need you to find any information on Joe."

"I see where this is going." She closed the book. "Shall we leave?"

"No time like the present."

No one really noticed when two people left the next morning, one who almost definitely dyed her hair since her arrival. They left in silence after talking politely with the front desk staff. No one ever suspected that the two had killed off two almost innocent teenagers at one point in order to complete a case that they had worked since they became the animals that they are.

No one saw the pain written in the man's eyes, the only thing that hadn't changed since the day he killed Frank Hardy.


	2. Chapter 1

Yeah, I killed off Frank before this story even began... :(  
And to anyone who read the note about where I thought Bayport was, please ignore that. Chromde reminded me about some of the facts (thank you!), so just know that Bayport is probably in New Jersey (but New York elements might be mixed in).

I do not own the Hardy Boys.

Enjoy!

* * *

Fenton Hardy had never thought that his sons would never be separated. They were always something more than brothers. They were best friends, the kind that understood almost everything about the other.

He never thought ATAC would bring the mess that it did, either. Fenton had opposed their new idea from the start, but the other board members were convinced that it was the only way to make people safer.

_"You're teaching kids how to kill, and giving them guns!"_

The statement echoed in his memory as he looked at the picture on the desk of his study. A golden frame held a picture of Frank, smiling into the camera, his arm around Joe.

Frank had joined the new program that ATAC offered. It had been called Project Assassin Agents, or Project AA for short. As the name implied, the chosen agents would be taught how to wield weapons and kill, should the situation call for it. Only two had been in the program. Jackie Rose had been one of them, a foster care child who currently did not have a family. The other was Frank.

The agency decided not to use Joe. They claimed he was too impulsive. The blonde teenager was upset, but accepted the news. He had a harder time when Frank agreed to undergo the training, however.

_"You're innocence doesn't need to be ruined. Besides, you have a life."_

That was Frank's response. He had resented his brother slightly, after Joe decided not to take a mission so he wouldn't miss the chance to attend a school dance party. That once choice had upset the bond between the two, but Fenton never thought it would be that much.

Still, he had silently hoped that one day, Frank would come back from his training. He was always traveling to learn new techniques, or work on actual missions. It was even reported that he had shot a man in order to save someone's life. But as the days turned into weeks, the great private investigator's hopes steadily fell.

More than three weeks ago, all of the family's hope had vanished. Laura and Trudy had been told that Frank had joined a learning program that had been funded to take kids around the nation to get a greater learning experience. They were fed another lie, but the ultimate truth was the same.

Frank Hardy had been killed.

No body had been found, but a security tape had shown Frank being shot, and then the area around him had been set on fire before the camera experienced some issues from the fire. Fenton had watched the video, Frank's screams scarring his mind.

What troubled Fenton the most was that the killer was still out there. The person who tortured his son,_ murdered_ the teenager, was walking among the public.

Another issue bothered Fenton Hardy. Before Frank crossed the line between life and death, members of ATAC had died. Thank God, it wasn't any of the agents. If those kids were the victims, he would never be able to live with himself.

But it was puzzling, all the same. The highest officials, some who have helped create ATAC, were dying. Not just dying, either. They were killed off. Murdered. Some with bullets, other with poisons or explosives. But they all met the same fate.

Besides being a part of ATAC, the people had no connection to each other at all. It was puzzling, but revealed something about the killers: whoever was behind this knew about the organization. There were too many dead adults for it all to be a coincidence.

The phone cut off the rest of his thoughts.

He picked it up quickly after recognizing the number. "Yes?"

_"Three men have been found dead."_

Fenton swore silently. Another three have been killed. "Where?"

_"Binghamton. All by bullet shots."_

"Send me the info."

_"Will do."_

Fenton put down the phone, only to have it ring again. This time, it was an unlisted number. Assuming it was a telemarketer or something, he allowed the ringing to continue. With any luck, the second they heard the answering machine, they would give up.

He was surprised to even hear a voice when the answering machine started recording. But the voice itself was a whole other matter.

_"Hello, Fenton."_ It had been a voice disguiser that mixed different pitches together, so it sound like multiple voices at once. Some parts sounded digital, while some seemed authentic.

_"Don't bother to pick up the phone. In fact, you might want the answering machine to record this all."_

_"To make in simple: you are in my territory. You have been messing with my stuff. So I'm gonna do the same to you. And this time, it won't be just anyone's life…"_

Fenton pressed the record button that was part of his phone (ATAC had given it to him, just in case). Once he made sure the conversation was being recorded, he picked up the phone. "What do you want?"

_"So, you already figured out who I am?"_

"You're a murderer. You're the one after all of those agents."

_"Very good. I see that you still kept your edge as a detective."_

"How did you find out about our operation?"

_"I have my ways, Fenton. You of all people should know how many different ways we can… extract information. But that's not supposed to be our topic."_

"What do you want?"

_"Stay off my turf, Fenton Hardy. If you're smart, you'll back off before anything unfortunate happens to your family…"_

"What…?"

_"You miss your son, don't you? He ran off to try and be a good person, but after all that effort, he died."_ Fenton mentally saw the smirk that the killer had on his/her face.

"You killed Frank."

_"Yes I did, Fenton."_

"Why?"

_"I have my reasons. But I have a feeling that Frank is lonely in the hole where he is. Maybe he needs Joseph to j__oin him…"_

Fenton shot up from his seat, clutching the phone to his ear. "You wouldn't dare…"

_"You know my demands, Fenton. Don't ever say I didn't warn you."_

The phone line went dead. Fenton was shaking as he put the phone back into the base, trying to understand the information fully.

The killer had called him, had enjoyed the pain that Fenton had for the death of his oldest son. And the killer was planning the same fate for Joe, unless Fenton back off the case of finding the ATAC killer.

_Like hell am I letting this bastard get away._

There was a knock at the door, putting whatever thoughts Fenton had about the killer on hold. "Come in."

Joe walked into the room, his book bag hanging off of his left shoulder. He had been looking down, but the second he noticed the window, he peered outside, as if worried about an unknown force.

"Joe, what is it?"

Joe literally jumped at those words, and a look of a frightened child was seen in his face as he faced his father.

"Sorry, Dad. I mean… I don't want to interrupt anything… Maybe it's just me being paranoid, that's all."

Fenton sighed. "Joe, I have no idea what you're talking about. Sit down and tell me."

"You're busy-"

"Joseph."

The stern voice had somewhat surprised the blonde teenager. He sat down in the seat in the couch across from the desk, letting his backpack sit on the floor next to his feet. He leaned back, trying to focus on anything but his father's face.

"There's this girl. I think she might be stalking me."

------------

Snake sat next to the phone in the old house. He couldn't help but smile to himself. He knew he would win this battle. It wasn't that hard to pick sides at the moment.

He held Frank Hardy's journal in his hand. He had read it quite a few times, trying to grasp what the boy had gone through in his life before he had met Snake.

Hawk said she didn't need the journal anymore. She had her part down. Snake had even watched her today. She was too perfect for the job.

_"But I killed Jackie with love."_

The words echoed in his mind. What did he kill Frank with? Hatred? Or indifference?

Snake tossed the journal into the fireplace, hoping that he could light a fire later. He saw the book only as a burden, since he had no longer use for the pages filled with love and happiness.

For all that Snake was concerned with, those emotions didn't really exist.


	3. Chapter 2

More craziness...  
Don't own the Hardy Boys.  
Enjoy!

* * *

"Someone's stalking you?" Fenton asked, instantly becoming concerned for his son's safety.

"I think so. I mean, it's only been one day… But she was following me around from a distance, and when Chet went up to talk to her, she just said that she had to make sure here 'baby' wasn't hurt." It wasn't hard to see that Joe was embarrassed. "I mean, it might just be me accusing a new girl for something lame. Maybe she dates one of the other guys. Maybe-"

"Joe, stop. These 'maybes' could be true, but you don't know," Fenton explained slowly. He was still trying to get over the fact that Frank's killer had called him. "I want you to take precautions for now. If it gets too far, I want you to tell me."

It seemed to him that his son only felt worse. "Don't worry. It'll be fine." _Which is more than I can say about Frank's killer,_ he added silently.

"Okay, Dad." Joe got up, slung his book bag over his shoulder, and left the study in silence.

----------------

Joe walked down the empty hallway, feeling confused. It was obvious that his father had something on his mind. Ever since Frank had left the house to join Project AA, the oldest male Hardy had appeared preoccupied. It was if he was planning ways on how to get Frank back.

Frank had once said the harsh statement to Joe about being glad that the blonde couldn't join. The younger Hardy had mentally kicked himself so many times, thinking that the party had ruined it all. But that was not the case.

Joe's older brother had came into his room the night before his departure. He said he had to explain what he said earlier, fearing that Joe took the message the wrong way.

_"This is to protect you, little bro. Becoming a killer seems so harsh. I don't know what will happen to me. But I'll be happy to know that you'll live a somewhat normal life. Okay?"_

Joe had sworn to his brother that he would try to live a normal life. It was Frank's last wish to him, and he refused to screw it up.

It was hard to accept that his older brother was dead. The whole situation seemed surreal, because as much as Joe knew, Frank could have survived anything.

Joe paused in front of the door to Frank's room. It had been closed for three weeks, as if finalizing that the brunette was really dead. It was permanent. His mother had refused to even look towards if, not wanting to accept the truth.

_Maybe Frank's still in his room. Maybe his spirit wants me to go. I shouldn't… but it's all I have left of him._

Joe opened the door, and allowed himself to absorb the sight. Everything was still in place… except…

He walked over to the bookshelf, hoping that his eyes were playing tricks on him. Running his hand over the bare shelf, the emptiness shocked Joe. Where were his brother's journals?

Frank had started recording his life in the blank books since he entered middle school. Joe had never actually read any of them, but he suspected that his brother recorded things about their missions. He probably never directly named ATAC, but used code words.

But why were they all missing?

A lone page was on the empty bed. Joe picked it up, realizing that it was from Frank's recent journal.

_I met someone today, and he scares me. His presence alone has the power to suffocate a lot of people. He kills people for his job. I saw it today with my own eyes. He has guns and knives hidden away in his façade. The blood is always on his hands, even when he washes it all away._

_He calls himself Snake._

----------------

Snake laid down on the wood floor, cleared from the dust that had cursed the house before. The books were piled up next to him.

"How'd it go, Hawk?"

"Too easy. I should just shoot them all instead." She held her gun next to her head. "So, why did you go and steal all of Frank Hardy's journals?"

"They know where it is."

"Really? And we've been searching for it for such a long time, too." She sat down against the wall.

"ATAC was trying to be sneaky, but they messed up."

"How so?"

"Their fake mission log. Placed it in a whole other state than what the journals say."

"And you stole all of them to find that out?" Hawk looked skeptical, which was rare for her.

"There's something else. Fenton Hardy might be harder to trap than I originally thought, so I need a new plan."

His partner sighed. "Does that mean I dyed my hair for nothing?"

"Nope." He pulled out a knife, and handed it to her. "Continue with what you've been doing. And when the moment is right, offer a bargain that can't be refused."

"What do we want from them?"

"The files. And the boy."

"Joseph? Why would you need him? You already have the journals."

Snake sighed, sitting up. "There's a combination that we're missing. Frank is dead, and dead people don't speak to the living."

"Then why do you have his ashes next to you?"

Snake looked down at the clear jar, filled with black ashes. They had been left there since they day he had shot Frank three times, and then set the place on fire. "Think of it as a gift to the family. They wanted a body, anyways."

"Better wrap it up, then. Frank deserves the best presentation."

His cold eyes looked at the jar. "Only the best will fit him."

Hawk got up, and almost left before turning her head back. "So, what did you kill Frank with in the end?"

"I don't know," Snake admitted. "He was an interesting kid. But his blood had to be the beginnings of the lake."

"A big, giant lake," she agreed, before leaving Snake in the room alone.

He looked at the ashes again. He remembered the days leading up to the moment quite well. He remembered Frank's scream when the boy found blood on his hands. He remembered the fear struck in him when he realized that he had been the killer for once, not Snake.

Snake even remembered all the different ways he had planned to kill the golden boy, but only one was fitting.

"Only the best."


	4. Chapter 3

*smiles innocently while thinking about how Joe will react*  
Don't own the Hardy Boys  
Enjoy!

* * *

_Snake is a killer without much of a heart. Hawk says he has a little bit of a heart left, but it never affected his work._

_He threatened to kill me today. I was packing my stuff, and he placed the barrel of his gun right next to my head. He said if I told anyone about him, he would kill me._

_I still don't know why they came in contact with Jackie and me. All I really know is that our lives are in danger._

Joe read the words over and over, trying to grasp the things Frank had felt when he wrote this. The writing was shaky, revealing that Frank was trembling when he wrote this.

_Is this the monster who killed Frank?_ Joe, along with his father, had been told the truth about Frank's murder. Or, at least, what was known about the truth. The blonde had even watch the video of his brother's final moments without his father's knowing.

If he could, Joe would leave this house and track down Frank's killer.

But all he had was a journal entry that didn't even describe the man. And a possible stalker.

Joe walked out of the room quietly, closing the door behind him. He'll tell his father later, when the man wasn't so preoccupied with whatever he was working on…

------------

She smiled to herself slowly. She knew she was getting to him. Only one day, and he was thinking about her.

But he wasn't thinking about her enough. He needed to think about her twenty-four, seven. Not his family, not his friends…

Only her.

She sat in the car alone, glancing at the digital clock on the dashboard. It was past midnight, and the rest of the neighborhood was asleep. Only a steady light had stayed on, a single light that uplifted the thoughts of sleep.

_That man will never sleep, but for all the wrong reasons._ She laughed silently to herself, wondering how much pain she could inflict before Fenton would finally realize that the world around him would collapse.

But first, she needed to take Joe away from the shattering world. She needed to protect him until the time was right.

_And all he should think about is me._

------------

The next day came quickly, as if the murders had only sped up the world around him. Fenton typed away furiously at the computer, hoping that the answers would come sooner than they had.

"Fenton?" Laura's voice called out through the door, forcing Fenton to come out of his hypnotic trance.

"Come in."

She entered in slowly. "There was a package for you on the porch. I thought you might want it now." She placed the box covered in brown paper on the desk.

"There's something else bothering you, isn't there?" Even though he was extremely busy, Fenton could easily tell when his wife was stressed.

"It's Joe. He seems more withdrawn than ever this morning. Didn't say a single word when he left the house." Laura turned her gaze away from Fenton. "First Trudy left, then Frank… Frank…" She sat down on the couch, tears streaming down her face.

Fenton instantly got up to comfort her. Memories of his sister leaving to live with her boyfriend in another state filled his mind, but he pushed them aside. "It's okay, Laura."

She sobbed into his shoulder. "Do… will we ever get over this?"

"No," he admitted. "Whoever did this still isn't caught, but I won't let him get away. And even after we find the bastard, nothing can bring back Frank. We're going to have to try and move on."

His wife sobbed louder.

"I know it sounds harsh, Laura. But it's the way it works." He had known from previous experiences that bringing a killer to justice can only go so far. Everything after that was remembering.

"Okay." She got up, and tried to smile. "I better go now." She walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Fenton sighed, rubbing his temples. Frank's death had affected the whole family greatly. Even if catching the killer would only do so much, Fenton knew he had to bring that heartless person to justice.

He eyed the package, before picking it up. There was nothing on it, except for the words "For Fenton" printed. Hoping it was from ATAC, he opened it carefully.

Shiny paper greeted him. It was gold, metallic wrapping paper, with writing on one side.

_You wanted your son back so badly, so here he is. Try to give him a proper ceremony._

The color drained from his face as he took off the paper slowly, and opened the box found beneath it.

A jar full of ashes met him.

-------------

Joe walked to his locker quietly, hoping to spot Chet before class. So far, he did not see the girl at all.

_Maybe I was overreacting. I mean, not every girl I see is a stalker. Right?_

"Yo, Joe!" The voice startled the blonde, who turned around to be confronted by his friend.

"Hey Chet. What's up?"

"I finished my English project! Three days early!" Chet exclaimed.

"Awesome." Joe didn't want to ruin his friend's mood with the fact that he completed the project a week ago, so he decided to change topics. "So, what's for lunch?"

"Joe?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you at…?" Chet pointed at the locker behind Joe. The blonde had already begun to put in a combination, when he realized why Chet had seemed startled.

"I still know his combination," Joe said softly, before going to a locker a row away. "He hasn't been to school for the longest time, and I still try to barge in and take his stuff."

"It's okay, man. I mean, you guys were really close brothers and all…" Chet looked away.

"I still miss him." The sentence was only a little above a whisper, but both of them could hear it in the noisy halls.

The two were still silent when Joe opened his locker, and a brown paper bag came tumbling out.

"Weird. I didn't leave my lunch in here yesterday…" Joe picked up the bag to inspect it, only to freeze and allow the bag to fall back on the floor.

"What is it?" Chet picked up the bag to examine the note attached.

_I packed your favorite lunch; a turkey sub with sour cream and onion chips, and an orange soda. Hope you like it!_

_Your Guardian Angel_

-------------

Snake couldn't help but smile as he tore through the open road. Fenton Hardy probably received his "gift" by now. And that was only the beginning.

He had to shift his whole plan when he began to realize how far a father would go to catch his son's murderer. Snake had to admit, he severely underestimated Fenton's will.

Of course, that didn't mean that the threat on Joe was gone, either.

He had already planned out the days mentally. It would be too soon when this whole affair was over. But for now, there were other matters to attend to.

A few hours later, he reached the intended destination. The town was small, and almost never had any strangers. However, today would be an exception for them.

The helmet, which had been sitting in the passenger seat since he had left base, was picked up and placed on his head. The voice disguiser, which Snake found to be very convenient, was turned on, before the assassin entered the empty building.

No one greeted him, mostly due to the fact that the building was to be demolished within another hour. However, one man had to be there…

"And there you are." The startled man turned around, his eyes filled with fright.

"How- What-"

"Nice to see you too, Logan. You shouldn't have been in here in the first place, but you needed to retrieve the stuff, didn't you?"

"You're the one who took it!" Logan pulled out a gun, and had a steady aim on Snake.

"Yes, I did. If only you could understand your own actions." Before Logan could even register the words, three gunshots rang out.

_Another one down. And it's coming closer to home, Fenton. You better watch out._


	5. Chapter 4

I should be able to write more, since I finished all of the other stuff...  
I do not own the Hardy Boys.

Enjoy!

* * *

The jar sat on the table, a small amount of ash missing. Fenton had taken the seat next to the table, eyeing the jar every so often. It couldn't have been… It was impossible…

It had been more than a week since he had received the jar. No other phone calls from the killer. One death, though. This time, it was closer to Bayport.

_That monster is just trying to scare you. Whoever it is, they know I might figure out their plan. I have to stay on this case. I have to._

"Fenton?" Simon Green called out. The PI instantly shot up.

"Yes?"

"I did the DNA tests and all. Some of the ashes came from burnt wood…"

Fenton could feel the tension in the air. "But?"

"We found some… Frank's DNA was discovered…" Simon looked away. "I'm sorry Fenton."

Fenton lowered down into the chair slowly. "So these are Frank's remains?"

"I'm afraid so."

Fenton didn't question Simon. They had worked together during the last years Fenton was a homicide detective for the New York Police. Simon had been one of the best. The younger man had even built himself a reputation.

Simon had also joined the ATAC team a while back. He helped identify substances and reported accurate autopsies for agents. If anything, Fenton felt like he could trust this man the most.

"Have you told your wife?" Simon asked, taking the seat next to Fenton's.

The retired PI let out a long sigh. "I can't," he admitted. "If I tell her, she's bound to find out about ATAC. And I don't want to drag her into this mess. Especially with a killer involved…"

"You believe that the killer knows about us?"

"The monster called me." Fenton recounted the phone call to Simon. "And then I got the jar the next day. They must really want me off their backs."

"Maybe." Simon looked over to the jar. "It's weird, though. Killers usually don't return the remains, or collect the ashes."

"Killers aren't usually that sophisticated, either," Fenton pointed out. "Not unless they're up to something."

"Like taking down ATAC?"

"Like that."

"Well, I know I'm not as good as you, Fenton, but there's still something odd about all this."

"What do you mean?"

"If someone wants to take ATAC down, why not just announce our existence to everyone? It would save time and money."

"Pride." The word seemed to startle Simon, so Fenton paused before continuing. "If the monster has enough pride, then they would want to take us down alone."

"True. We just have to catch the killer before they get to someone else." Simon leaned back in the chair. "But what a hell of a job that would be."

"Yeah." The monster was growing bigger and bigger in Fenton's mind, and only he could kill it.

-------------

She smiled as she watched the car come into the driveway. She knew it wasn't Joe, but the smile was stuck on her lips. She was winning.

It had been a week since she started, and she had already worked her way into Joe's heart. She got him a lunch every day. She knew he loved them, too.

All that was left was to remove that pesky obstacle.

------------

Joe sat in his room, the blinds shutting out whatever sunlight that came from outside. Every so often, he would glance at the window, as if expecting the blinds to suddenly throw themselves open.

He was scared. He didn't want to admit it, not even to himself. The blonde thought that he had turned paranoid. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding. Maybe she'll stop once she realized he wasn't into her.

Joe hadn't told his father the latest developments, either. The journal page sat on the desk, waiting, next to a pile of notes. None of it made sense. And yet, it somehow did.

He jumped when his cell phone rang. Trying to calm himself down, he answered without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?"

_"I'm here to help, Joseph."_

He almost threw down the phone. "What?! Who are you?"

_"You're guardian angel, of course. I just want to help."_

"Stay away from me!" Joe hissed into the phone.

_"There's an envelope outside of your window. Please just look at it. For me?"_ The line went dead afterwards.

Joe placed the phone on the bed, staring at it. He just imagined that… right?

He looked at the window, before walking over and opening the blinds. There, held into place by the sealed window, was a cream colored enveloped with his name written in print.

He opened it slowly, not knowing what to expect. Two different pieces of paper became exposed. One was obviously some sort of ticket to a concert or something. Joe pulled it out, and examined it. The ticket was for a concert that was scheduled for next week, and Joe had failed to obtain one months ago. _How the hell did she…?_

He allowed it to slip from his fingers, fluttering to the floor. He took out the other piece of paper. It was ripped at one edge, which instantly warned Joe of the pain to come. He opened it slowly, and read the words silently.

_This might just be my paranoia, but I have a feeling that Snake's been going through my journal. Maybe he's the one paranoid. Is there something I'm not supposed to write?_

_Hawk told us that we have to pretend that everything is normal when we go back to base. If we mess up, there's no doubt that Snake will kill us right then and there._

_I should probably ask Hawk all of my questions. At least she tells me what's going on. Snake likes to keep me in the dark. He told me I can only discover the truth when I become something like him. He knows that Project AA was only meant to train kids to use weapons. They were never really supposed to become assassins._

_But Snake has other plans for me. He sees a killer in me. And the problem is, I can see it too._

----------------

Laura Hardy knew something was wrong with Fenton. He seemed to be distracted ever since he got that package a week ago. She was determined to find out why.

When he arrived home, she pulled him into the kitchen. "Fenton, I want you to tell me what is going on."

"What?" Laura wasn't fooled by his act of ignorance. He had pulled that off too many times when he worked as a PI for her not to recognize it.

"You're not working on a case, are you?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

Fenton almost instantly gave up. He probably realized that, without intending to, he taught his whole family the art of detecting. "I'm tracking down Frank's killer."

"That's it?" With an instant moment of total bravery and disregard for her husband's privacy, she grabbed the folder tucked under his arm. She quickly opened it. "Fenton… what is this?"

He sighed. "There's something I should have told you a long time ago, Laura."

---------------

Snake examined the dagger. The handle easily fitted into his hand, and the blade hadn't been used yet. Unlike the others that he had, it had not yet been stained with blood.

"Still thinking of the best weapon?" Hawk asked, entering the room.

He gave a brief chuckle. "We already know what that is. There's no point in speculating."

"But it's fun. Besides, that was one of the only things you and Frank agreed on when you first met him."

The memories came back slowly. Snake closed his eyes, letting the scene play out in his head. "I guess it was."

"So, what's the plan now?"

"Everyone should close in on Joseph, which makes things hard," he admitted.

"Not exactly." She smiled. "If things get too tough, they will be the ones going."

"You're devious."

"Just the way I like it." She left silently, leaving Snake to his thoughts.

The ultimate weapon. That was all they needed to win the whole thing. They had all agreed, unanimously. Even Frank and Jackie thought that it was the most destructive weapon of all.

The mind.

He tossed the dagger at the wall, piercing the plaster. He got up, and pulled it out.

That's how Snake got through to Frank. That's how he killed the brunette Hardy. And that's how he was going to get to Joe.

"Don't leave Frank waiting, Joseph."


	6. Chapter 5

As mentioned in the revised author's notes in Ch 1, Bayport is in New Jersey (I think...) and may still possibly have some New York elements in it. Thanks again to Chromde for pointing that out.  
Once again, I do not own the Hardy Boys.

Enjoy!

* * *

Fenton closed his eyes, trying to understand what Laura was going through. It was an impossible task, however. He had just explained to her ATAC. About Frank and Joe's habit of disappearing for days on some kind of "field trip" or "contest" were actually missions that saved lives. How Frank truly lived out his last moments, and about the killer who still walks among the public.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Her voice was strong, despite the tears running down her cheeks. "He was my son, dammit!"

"I didn't want to drag you into the mess," he said quietly. "It would have been better that way."

"Better for who?" The words hung in the air. "For me, or for you?"

Fenton couldn't find the words to respond, so he sat quietly on his seat on the couch.

"Frank said it was better for you not to find out about what a monster he would become by joining Project AA." Joe's voice shattered the silence, and both parents looked up at their blonde son.

"What do you mean?" Laura asked.

"He didn't want to be remembered as a killer. He wanted to be remembered as Frank." Joe sat down on an armchair. "We talked about it the day before he left. He told me that if he died, to not tell you anything. He wanted you to remember him as your son, Mom, not as a killer."

Laura got up from the couch, and walked over to Joe. His head was hanging down, tears in his eyes from the last memory of his brother. She hugged him, as if trying to lift the burden off his shoulders.

"There's something else," he mumbled, taking some papers out of his pocket. "I found two pages from Frank's journal."

Fenton took them, and quickly read the words before handing them over to his wife. "Where did you find them?"

"One was on Frank's bed. I thought he might have taken all of his other journals, but today…" Joe looked at the window briefly. "The girl. She's been stalking me. She left lunches in my locker, and today she gave me the other one with a concert ticket."

The PI frowned. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were preoccupied with your work. I thought that… you needed some space."

"Joe, this is the kind of thing that should be told, no matter what we're doing," Laura said. "We can't let this go on."

"No," Fenton agreed. His mind was reeling in all of the information. "Joe, we found Frank's remains."

"What?!" Joe shot out from his seat, startling his mother. "Where? How?"

"The killer delivered them," Fenton admitted. "He's playing some kind of sick game by killing off people associated with ATAC, and he threatened to kill you unless I stay out of it."

"So Snake is trying to kill me?" Joe asked, his voice a little shaky.

"Yes. I think the 'Snake' Frank mentioned is the one who killed him, and wants to kill you."

Joe's face paled at the idea. "Dad, you have to solve this case."

"But Joe-" Laura protested.

"Mom, we have to find Frank's killer. It's better to risk my life and catch him instead of letting more people die." The blonde boy began to pace around. "If he contacted Dad and threatened him, then he knows Dad can catch him. He probably doesn't have any clear way to get to me-"

"Yes he does! The stalker," Laura pointed out. "What if the stalker and Snake are working together?"

"It's possible," Fenton agreed. "But we can't be sure. We have to track down one to get to the other."

"That should be easy," Joe joked. "The stalker follows me around all the time."

"We don't know for sure, Joe. But as for now, I don't want you anywhere by yourself. There's safety in numbers." Fenton walked over to the phone. "I'll try to get some agents on this matter. We have to stop them both before it gets out of hand."

-------------

The house was empty, which didn't disappoint her. In fact, she was quite happy with the development.

She had memorized the whole house by now. Her footsteps were silent as she approached the back door. The key slipped in with ease, and the door opened, as if inviting her in.

Her work was easy. At one point, she stopped and wondered why she was doing it in the first place.

_For Joe,_ she reminded herself. _I need to protect Joe._

--------------

His friends had willingly agreed to help him out. Chet, Biff, Tony, Callie, and Phil had worked out a way so that the blonde was with someone at all times.

Joe had apologized continuously throughout the first few days, but they waved it off. Callie had responded with "It's either us helping, or you getting kidnapped or something. Trust us, it's better this way."

That's what they thought, at first.

It had been three days since the system had begun, and Joe was walking to school with Callie and Phil.

"You okay?" Callie asked, noticing the dark circles under Joe's eyes.

"I had a nightmare," he admitted. "It kept me up half the night."

"Frank, right?" Phil said softly.

Joe nodded. "He was dying right in front of me… and… and I couldn't help or…"

"You feel useless," Callie concluded. "You think you could have stopped his death, but you did nothing."

Joe nodded again. "I could have been with him, I bet. If I pushed-"

"Joe, stop it," Phil said. "Frank probably wouldn't want you with him. He was probably very happy that you two were separated."

The words startled the blonde. "Why?"

"Because he knew you were hundreds of miles away, safe from the killer. He knew that you would live, and that some day, the bastard was going to be caught and face justice. And that was probably enough." Phil put an arm around Joe. "Trust me on this."

Memories started awakening in Joe's mind, as he recalled the last face-to-face conversation he had with his brother. _"This is to protect you, little bro."_

He nodded slowly as the school came into view. "I guess so."

"It'll be okay, Joe. You'll be fine."

"Sure…" Something within him told him differently, but he decided not to worry his friends with the idea at all.

The day had passed in its usual grace, with the boring classes taking a longer time while the interesting classes disappearing into the past. By the time the last bell had rung, Joe was more than ready to leave the building behind.

He opened his locker, to find a plush doll sitting on the bottom of the metal container. It closely resembled him, with one very noticeable difference. A small dagger had gone through the chest of the replica.

It sat on a piece of paper. When he was sure no one was looking his way, he pulled it out and read it silently.

_The only thing I can feel somewhat certain of is that Joe's safe. Snake is too busy watching over me to manage to get to Bayport and go after Joe. Hawk assures me that Joe has no place in their plans, but I can't trust Snake to keep his word._

_I watched Snake kill a man today. I didn't want to, but something inside of me made me. I saw how he works, and how he has little care for the blood he spills. Not one person he has killed has any value to him. It's like it's a hobby._

_Why didn't I do anything? Why didn't I try and stop Snake?_

_I'm glad I haven't talked to Joe for a week now. He doesn't deserve to have a brother like me. He doesn't need to know I might become a killer, too._

Underneath his brother's neat handwriting, a single message had been written.

_If the only way I can protect you is to kill you, I'll do it. With love, your Guardian Angel._

"'Guardian Stalker' is more like it," Joe mumbled, pocketing the paper. Maybe he could pull of fingerprints later-

"Joe!" Chet's voice interrupted the rest of his thoughts.

"What's up?" Joe placed his books in his locker, hiding the doll from view.

"I found this in my locker!" His friend held out a doll that resembled him, with a blade smaller than the dagger going through the middle. Attached to the blade was a piece of paper. _Joe is mine. Touch him and suffer the consequences._

------------

Snake waited next to Hawk on the building edge. "You started already?"

"We can't afford to waste much time, Snake. Someone will thank us, one day."

"Who? Frank?"

She didn't answer, and Snake didn't encourage her to. Instead, they sat in silence for a minute.

"How soon do we need those files?" Hawk asked, looking down on the streets below.

"Soon. They know we're getting closer to the truth." He smirked. "I'm going to make another call to Fenton soon. He could actually be of some help."

"Are you going to leave him a trail?"

Snake pulled out a credit card from the pocket of his jacket. "Never really liked these things, but they do have their advantages."

"I already used that thing."

"For what?"

"This." Hawk pointed to the streets, where a prim woman was walking at a very fast pace on the sidewalk. She took no care to her surroundings, and everyone seemed to be repelled from her like invisible magnets.

As she took one more step, the woman suddenly fell onto the concrete. The people around her stared, as some rushed forward to see what was wrong.

"Her coffee taste was a bit odd. Some flavor you would have to special order for," Hawk said, standing up.

"Interesting." Snake closed his eyes. "Would you like me to get you anything?"

"Some gelatin and fruit juice. We ran out." Before walking away, she added, "And some rope and blades. I rather not try to get them back from those kids."

"I'll keep that in mind." Snake continued to watch the scene below him, as the group around the woman looked away in dismay, all hope lost. The assassin couldn't help but smile. There had been no bloodshed, but Hawk had efficiently started the paper trail. The question was if Fenton would find it.

_"My dad's the best PI there ever was!"_

He remember that phrase from what seemed like years ago. Frank didn't know the truth back then when they first met. He had hope within him, something Snake had to break down in order to show Frank the true side of life.

Snake got up, and left the scene to continue on without his gaze. There were always other times. Besides, there was still a fish to bait and a job to be done.


	7. Chapter 6

I do not own the Hardy Boys.  
Enjoy!

* * *

The call came during the afternoon. Fenton had been going through all of his files, hoping any of his past cases might have a relation to the current killer.

He picked up the phone absentmindedly, continuing to glance at the files he had piled on his desk. "Yes?"

_"You've been busy as of late, Fenton?"_

There was no mistaking it. The voice disguiser and pride in his voice was too hard to replicate.

"Snake," Fenton hissed, typing into his laptop.

_"So you've learned my name. I congratulate you already."_ Snake laughed at the other end of the phone. _"You are an interesting being, Fenton. My destruction has been going on for weeks, and yet you know more about me than the others do with only a week's worth of time."_

"What do you want?"

_"Always to business, aren't you? I truly don't know what to make of you. I always have to keep changing my plans in order to get exactly what I want with you. But my threat still stands."_

Fenton adverted his gaze from the laptop screen to the picture of Frank and Joe on his desk. "We're ready for you."

_"Then let me tell you this. I have never enjoyed drinking coffee. There can be too much dependency."_

"What the hell are you talking about?"

_"New York City, about ten minutes ago. Maybe a good ten, twenty feet from this payphone I'm using. A woman named Alice Terra fell on the sidewalk, dead from poison. She always did like coffee…"_

The name clicked in Fenton's mind. Alice Terra had worked for ATAC as a mission coordinator. She wasn't well liked, but was efficient in her work. And she drank coffee constantly.

"You killed her."

_"Not me, exactly. An associate of mine."_

"Hawk, right?"

_"Very good, Fenton."_

"Why did you kill Frank?"

There was silence for a fraction of a second, before the response came in the same tone full of pride. _"He was in my way. But it probably wouldn't have mattered what I chose in the long run. The suicidal have ways of killing themselves, especially if they've been like that for years."_

Snake hung up before Fenton could get in another word. The PI sat back in his chair, pissed and wondering at the same time.

The assassin was using a payphone. Anyone could use a payphone, and no doubt Snake chose one where he was sure no cameras were watching.

But was that last bit? Frank, suicidal? It would be so much easier to blame those feelings on Snake and Hawk, but he couldn't. Whether he liked to or not, Fenton had to consider the possibility that Frank was suicidal beforehand.

"Hey, Dad!" Joe barged into the study, clutching something in his left hand.

"What did I tell you about knocking?"

"But, Dad-"

"Joe, I'm busy! Whatever you have can wait." Fenton dismissed Joe with a wave of his hand, turning back to his work. He had to catch Snake before he killed someone else… he had to…

Quiet footsteps left the study, with the door closed almost silently as his blonde son left the room.

-------------

If only she was there to see the reaction on Joe's face! But she was sure she would see it soon. Those annoying friends of his were in the way of her goal… She had to get them away from her Joe.

_A few more days should be enough,_ she thought, setting down the headphones. Fenton would be too tangled up, his friends all gone… It would be perfect.

The best part was no one could catch her.

------------

Joe didn't want to tell anyone of what he had just heard. When the phone rang and his father had picked up, he couldn't help but use the phone in the kitchen to listen in. He had done it before for missions, but never thought he would use the technique to listen into his father's conversations…

What was worse was that Snake knew the truth about Frank. Old memories of his older brother flooded back into Joe's mind.

_Would it have been better if I let Frank kill himself?_ Joe quickly shook the idea out of his head. Frank didn't deserve to die, whether by his own hands or Snake's.

His cell phone let out a quick ring, signaling that a call was coming through. Joe checked the number before answering. "Callie?"

_"Did you tell your dad about the doll yet?"_ The vivid memory of discovering all of his friends had received dolls made Joe shiver.

"He was… busy with a case about a murderer. Why?"

_"When I got home today, I found my room totally trashed!"_

"Anything stolen?"

_"No, but there was a message on the wall."_

"'Touch Joe and die'?"

_"Yeah."_ Callie's voice was shaky when she said, _"Joe… The police think that it's nothing big since nothing was stolen. I mentioned the doll… but they still think it's a joke or something…"_

"You're scared, aren't you?" Joe knew that the girl wouldn't admit it herself. She had a lot of pride, and enough power to beat up a few guys if she tried.

_"I can't help it. She got into my locker, my house… I'm sorry Joe. I just can't."_

"It's okay. Take care." He hung up without another word.

_My problems shouldn't mess up their lives. Callie shouldn't be dealing with this…_

Without realizing it, Joe was starting to breakdown from the inside.

-------------

Snake flipped his cell phone open as he instantly recognized the number. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

_"Sorry. Too busy with some other stuff."_

"Whatever. You're as good as Hawk with this stuff, so what's a little distraction when your job is almost done?" Snake said. "Anything to report?"

_"We managed to get the girl away. Now the others are left, but they should be easier to deal with."_

"How'd you get the girl away, anyways?"

A small chuckle could be heard. _"She was bound to figure it out at some point. I told her what she needed to know, and set up the scene. All she had to do was to bug the police and call the kid up."_

"Good. Get the other two away as quickly as you can. Beat them to an inch of their life, for all I care."

_"You need the info soon, don't you?"_

"They started figuring it out. My next targets won't even leave their apartments."

_"What are you gonna do, then?"_

"Lie. I'll be in contact with you later." Without any form of farewells, the assassin hung up. He checked his clothes in the mirror. He was in a suit, something that he never planned to wear. His "hair" was combed back neatly, and his smile was almost flawless.

_If only he could see me now…_ He left the bathroom, and proceeded down the hall where all of the people were gathered around an oak table, all clearly nervous.

"Have you tracked him down?" one of the men asked as he entered the room.

"Yes, we have." The group sighed with relief as the assassin continued speaking. "He will no longer harm our plans." He poured a cup of water for himself, and motioned for others to do the same, passing the pitcher. "While this is not wine, I do think a toast is in order."

The seven people at the table agreed, lifting their mugs of water.

"To us." He took a sip calmly, as the others followed his lead.

Within seconds, all but two people fell down.

The last man at the table glared at Snake. "How were you able to poison them while drinking from the same water?"

"The cups, my friend." Snake couldn't help but be impressed by the man.

"And why did you turn on us, Jim?"

"Jim's dead." The assassin pulled off his wig, and allowed the other man to gasp in shock when faced with the reality.

With that, Snake pulled out his gun, and shot the man.

* * *

If you want to know why Frank's suicidal, I'll tell you... nothing. :)

On other news, everyone is running out of minutes due to all of the phones calls during this chapter. And no one has been able to figure out why I write such sad things when I'm not sad.

And I don't know why people like coffee.


	8. Chapter 7

I do not own the Hardy Boys.  
Enjoy!

* * *

Fenton had been working almost nonstop, trying to tract down the killer. All that he had, however, were a few pictures of the crime scenes and a phone call that could be traced to a payphone. It wasn't much, but it was all that he had.

"Fenton, what about Jackie?" Laura asked once during the course of his days.

"Huh?"

"The girl that was with Frank before they both left. She's an assassin too, right?"

Fenton nodded. "Her full name was Jacquelyn Rose Chang. When she was ten, her parents put her into the hands of Social Service, and she's been a foster child ever since. She harbored a deep hatred towards her birth parents, because they only put her in the foster system because they didn't think she would live up to their expectations. She used her middle name as her last name sometimes, so everyone thought she had a family. ATAC recruited her during the beginnings of our operation, since she solved some cases and often moved about."

"As in she never found a family?"

"She 'gave up' on the concept when she was twelve. After that, Jackie was just shipped from family to family. When they came up with Project AA, Jackie was a likely candidate. She had an interest for biochemistry, which would be helpful when dealing with poisons."

"Where is she now? Maybe she knows something about Frank's-"

Fenton interrupted before Laura's hopes could get too high. "She was killed. They found her in an empty field weeks ago, bullets to the heart and head. Before they were able to move the body, a giant explosive under the body went off. It's believed that either Snake or Hawk had it set up so when enough people were around it, they would set it off and kill more ATAC agents."

It was quiet before Laura asked another question. "How many?"

"Five died, and three are still in a coma."

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Fenton, out of all of the people killed, Frank and Jackie were the only minors. This might sound insincere… but why only them? Why did they have to die?"

The PI thought the question over before answering. "They are the only assassins. If anything, they pose the most threat because they were taught how to kill if necessary."

Laura cried softly, and left the room.

_I'm going to find you, Snake. For all the pain you created, all the blood you spilled… I'll get you._

With that, Fenton worked harder than ever to track down the assassin who ruined his life. His efforts were rewarded an hour later, when a paper trail was found connecting the coffee and poison, as well as some other items. It was traced to New York City, Binghamton, and now…

_A set of knives, rope, and a pack of pastries. All within Bayport during the last few hours._

--------------

"Joe, Joe, Joe…" she mumbled as she set up the last part of her plan. This would be one of the last things that would send them away. It would send them running from her Joe… and then she could take him.

_His mother might be upset, but she'll understand one day._ She held the dagger up, the sunlight reflected off the blade. _She'll see how perfect it was to let Joe be with me._

She watched at the students entered the school. The blonde boy she had focused on was constantly looking over his shoulder, despite being surrounded by his friends.

_See Joe? You're always thinking about me. I'll reward you for that._ She folded the journal page with neat creases, and put it in the envelope. _Just don't dwell on your brother for too long._

-------------

Joe didn't know what to make of the envelope in his book bag, as he stood alone in the hallway. School had already finished, without a sign of the stalker. _Damn. She's been changing her appearance daily, and I don't even know her name! If only I could get a restraining order or something…_

His mind flashed over to his father for a brief moment. He couldn't make his father stop trying to find Snake. Someone had to catch that damn bastard… and he didn't want to worry his mother, either…

It was worse that he had to drag his friends into this. It could have been a way to get to Snake, but now it was getting to be too much…

_Was this how Frank felt back then? Useless? A hindrance? Is this why he tried to kill himself?_

Deciding to take a risk, he opened the envelope. The familiar paper style warned him, but he opened it and read anyways.

_I called Joe, and lied to him. Told him I was doing fine. He doesn't need to worry over me. He doesn't need to know about Snake._

_My hands were covered with blood this morning. Jackie told me that I killed someone. It was one of Snake's targets. I don't recall any of it, but Hawk said that Snake commanded me to kill the man. And I did without putting up a fight. I killed the man with my own bare hands._

_Why can't I feel remorse? Did Snake unleash the killer in me? In Freudian psychology, they call it the id. Has my id taken over?_

_I don't know what to do anymore._

A single tear slid down Joe's cheek as he put the paper into his bag, before walking out the doors of the high school.

"Hey!" Chet greeted enthusiastically. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Joe lied, looking at his friend before greeting Phil and Biff.

"Man, it sucks being a freshman!" Biff exclaimed as he began to walk in the direction of the Hardys' house.

"Have fun. The finals are brutal," Phil replied with a smile. "I had to study for hours to pass."

"And you're the smart one!" Chet said with a laugh. "That means we probably have to study for days!"

"Yeah…" For some reason, Joe couldn't get his mind off of Frank.

"Joe?"

"Huh?"

Before another word could be uttered, a sudden blast of smoke appeared, blocking Joe's sight from the rest of his friends. "Hey-!"

A hand clamped out over Joe's mouth, and someone leaned over to his ear. In a soft voice, the attacker whispered, "I'll protect you, Joe. I'll take you soon."

_What?!_ Instinct kicked in, and Joe attempted to rid himself of the girl.

"Try harder…"

With pure luck, the wind started to kick in, blowing away the smoke.

"Next time, Joe."

The girl disappeared with the smoke, as if the wind had blown her away too. Joe was breathing heavily, trying to comprehend the whole incident that only took one, maybe two minutes.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked, looking at his other friends.

"Fin- Yikes! What's that?" Chet asked, pointing to Biff's bag.

Biff slowly swung his bag off his shoulder. "The hell?" He pulled at the handle, and the dagger came out from the side of his bag. "Damn, this was my good bag."

"You have one too, Chet," Phil pointed out as he removed another knife from his messenger bag, his voice shaky.

Joe pulled his bag off his shoulders, and expected to see a dagger as well. However, the sight that greeted him was more shocking than he had expected.

He pulled out the meat kitchen knife from the center of his bag, the handle having a red heart painted onto it.

_It doesn't make sense!_ Joe didn't look up directly at his friends' startled faces. _How... Why?_

--------------

Snake watched Joe entered his house, obviously shaken up from the recent events.

"Your brother's doing fine, Frank," Snake mumbled softly to the open air. "He's just like you, too. Innocent yet knowledgeable."

A picture of Fenton Hardy popped into his mind, and the assassin frowned. "You're father, on the other hand…"

"Obsession," Hawk said next to him. She had grown accustomed to her partner's habits of speaking aloud to Frank, wherever he was…

"Frank could never see that himself. His love blinded him," Snake said. "At least, until the suicide feelings kicked in."

"It's hard not to see it. That man has lived though his life without a second thought to anything but criminals." Hawk pointed her gun up in the air. "I wonder what could open his eyes…"

"You have your job, Hawk. I'll get the rest of those bastards."

"You're going up the chain."

"There are no bottom feeders left, anyways." He frowned. "We can't access the files, though. We need to see them."

"Then give Fenton a call. He found your trail by now, so all he needs is the bridge." She held up a vile of clear liquid. "Leave the rest to me."

"How long?"

"A day or so should be fine." She got up from her crouching position. "Don't worry. They'll be running away soon…"

He nodded. "I'll leave it to you."

Snake began to think about the famous PI again. Frank had written quite a lot about the man's work, which revealed so much. Fenton's style, ability…

And family life. If anything, it was the one that Frank had emphasized most.

"Obsession destroys everything around you. Frank was the first thing to be burned by him. Frank and Joseph suffered the most, didn't they?"

"I guess so, Snake. We'll see in the end."

With that, the two assassins left, but not before Snake got one last glimpse of the house.

"You're brother is going to join you soon, Frank."

* * *

In case anyone wanted to know what happened to Jackie... yeah...


	9. Chapter 8

And now I shall be even meaner to the charaters... :)  
I do not own the Hardy Boys.  
Enjoy!

* * *

"Okay, you should be able to get some information out of Erik. He's a good man, and has an amazing memory. He should be able to recall who bought the stuff. Thanks." Fenton hung up, just as Joe enter through the doorway.

"What happened?"

"Found a paper trail on the bastard. We should be able to round him up soon."

"Dad…" Joe sighed, and pushed out his hand, wrapped around a knife.

"What-"

"The stalker. She left a doll in all of our lockers, too. Callie's house was vandalized, so she's keeping her distance from me."

"What? When?"

"Days ago. I already checked for prints. And today, she let off a smoke screen and put knives through all of our bags." The blonde took the bag off of his shoulders, showing the hole in the center. "She has an accomplice too. Either that, or it was Snake."

"How did you figure that out?"

"She was standing next to me the whole time. There couldn't be knives in the other bags unless someone else was helping her."

"Then I doubt it was Snake."

"Huh?"

"He knows I'm on the case. He threatened to kill you. He didn't take the chance-"

"He had plenty of times to kill me! He's an assassin, for crying out loud! A professional killer! If he wanted to, I would be dead somewhere!"

"He's been focused on other places, Joe. He wants to make a bigger impact on ATAC, and killing one agent won't do it."

"Even if I'm your son?"

"Even if you are my son."

"Then what am I suppose to do? Sit around and wait?"

"I'll get to it-"

"After the paper trail, right? Have you ever thought that he wanted you to find it? Maybe he's luring you into a trap. Maybe he plans to kill you instead!"

"Joe, that's enough!" Fenton was getting more irritated as he spoke to Joe. "If it is a trap, then I'll figure my way around it."

"But Snake probably planned that far ahead too. Professional killers don't have credit cards. There are too many risks with using them. And Snake knows this."

"Joe, we will be fine." He turned back to the stack of papers on the coffee table.

"That's it? You're just gonna dismiss me? I can't believe it!" Joe stomped loudly to the stairway. "This was why Frank wanted to die! It's because you never loved him!" With that, Joe ran up the steps, and a few seconds later the sound of a door slamming could be heard throughout the house.

The words were still reeling in Fenton's mind. Joe knew about Frank's suicidal feelings? Did Laura know too?

The ringing of the phone beckoned his mind elsewhere, as he picked up the receiver. "Did you get it?"

_"Yes I did, Fenton. I got another seven, and more counting."_

"Snake."

_"Wasting your time, Fenton. I might be the one going around and killing everyone, but the real enemy is right next to you."_

"What are you talking about?"

_"There's a section of your little group that hides its true intentions. If you want any answers, then you're going to have to turn around and look at the people behind you. I suggest you start with Candice Hogginsmitz, Grace Anthony, and Seth Storm."_

"Why should I?"

_"You want answers, Fenton? Then go find them."_ The phone line went dead.

The PI sighed. Should he look into the people? There would be no real harm, but it was time consuming. Not to mention the fact that it was a killer who told him this…

But something told Fenton it would benefit him more. If the current plan failed, he could find something that connected the victims with the new names, and they would be able to protect more lives. Not to mention getting closer to figuring out who Snake really was.

Making up his mind, Fenton headed to the stairs. He would talk to Joe later… Right now he had a killer to catch.

-----------

She wondered if she really had to be so drastic. Then again, with that one last push, those so-called "friends" would leave her Joseph alone. And then he could be with her all day…

She sat in the closet, silent. Joseph was on his cell phone now, getting calls from Phil… now Biff… and Chet…

She smiled. Destroying things and leaving threats was never really her style, but if it kept those idiots away from what was hers…

She heard the blonde boy's uneasiness in his voice when the last call was closing. He had no one to turn to now. Only her…

Within hours, she would make a deal. She would save her Joseph in one way or another…

-----------

Joe stayed silent during dinner. His parents were drinking some kind of wine, no doubt due to his father's optimism of catching Frank's killer. Even before he had taken a sip, the man seemed a bit off… But Joe didn't care. His anger had not decreased since that afternoon, and it certainly wouldn't now.

_He's an assassin, Dad. He already killed Frank. How can you be so blind?_

Instead, the blonde boy kept his mouth shut and disappeared into his room after dinner.

It was an hour later before anyone confronted the boy again.

"Hello, Joseph." The voice startled him, as he turned away from his desk and looked to see who the intruder was. He was sure that he had locked all of the doors…

A second later, he realized what had happened.

"What the hell do you want? You threaten my friends, tortured me endlessly, and possibly know who killed my brother!" He got up from his chair, ready to fight. With any luck, his parents would have heard his voice from their bedroom, and help him stop the girl.

She flipped her hair (now blonde like his) and rolled her eyes. "They won't come to help, Joseph."

"What?" It was like she had read his mind.

"One of the things you and your brother used to do was talk loud enough when in a bad situation in order to get someone else's attention so they could assist you. Clever, but it won't save you now."

"What did you do?" Images flashed through Joe's mind, full of blood, just like Frank…

"Drugged the wine. You shouldn't worry about them that much." She pulled out a gun from her jacket's pocket. "They won't hear bullets flying, either."

"Shit," he mumbled, not sure what to do. "You want to kill me, don't you?"

"No, not yet… just talk." She walked over to the bed, and sat down as if she was at home. "Did your friends happen to tell you what I threatened them with?"

"No," he said, not sure where this was going.

"Replaceable things, really. A barn, a networking system… and what was that boy's name? The one with muscles."

"Biff?"

"Yeah, him. He loves his little gym too much." She smirked in his direction, as she got up. The gun was still in her hand. "Any of those things can be replaced. It makes me wonder if you're replaceable too." She placed the barrel under his chin, aiming upwards.

"No, they… you… it can't be…"

"Oh, it's true. I even have pictures if you need the proof. Or maybe you can watch everything with Frank. He's probably all alone in Heaven…"

"Shut up!" Joe's fist attempted to hit the girl, but she blocked it easily.

"Why should I?"

"You're Hawk, aren't you?"

"What gave it away? The gun?"

Joe couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You gave me pieces of Frank's journal. Snake gave my dad a piece. Unlike him, I saw the connection."

"And that means you're the first to go."

With lightning speed, she had pulled out a syringe and injected him with some kind of liquid. Seconds quickly flew by as Joe began to fall to the floor, trying to focus but failing.

Before the darkness claimed his mind, he heard Hawk saying "We warned your father, after all."

--------------

Snake watched as the car pulled up to the house. It was the middle of the night, and the car was almost silent. It was too simple, really.

Hawk got out of the driver's seat, holding out a stack of folder. "He got them out all in a day, and had a few extras lying around that I thought I should grab."

"Perfect." He took the folders, and looked briefly at the tags. "Successful night."

"Yes it was."

"And the combination?"

"Joseph wrote it down because he was fearful he would forget during the mission. I located it in his math notebook. It almost fooled me into thinking it was an equation." She took a piece of paper from her pocket, and handed it over to her partner. "I'm almost becoming bored from this."

"The fun's just beginning, Hawk." He looked into the car, and spotted the motionless figure. "I'm tempted to say that it's going too fast for them, though."

"You said that about Frank, too."

"I guess I did." He motioned to the car. "Shall we bring him in?"

"If we don't, Fenton won't try harder. That wouldn't be any fun, now would it?" Hawk slammed the front door closed, and opened up one next to the back seats.

"No, it wouldn't."

An image of Frank quickly appeared in Snake's mind. He shook it away, making it go just as quickly.

_We showed some mercy, Franky. Next time, your father won't be so lucky._

_We already told you, obsession isn't pretty._


	10. Chapter 9

Now things really get fun...  
I do not own the Hardy Boys.  
Enjoy!

* * *

Fenton woke up in bed, surprised to see he was still wearing the clothes from the previous day. _I must had fallen asleep because of all of the work._ He quietly got up, taking care so that Laura would still be able to sleep, and went down the steps.

The clock had said it was already ten in the morning. Joe should have already been in school, so there was no point in checking his room for the blonde boy. Instead, the PI pulled out a bowl and some cereal for a late breakfast.

_They probably already talked to Eric,_ he thought, grabbing a cordless phone from the counter. He punched in a number, and waited for the other side to pick up.

_"Hello?"_

"Simon? It's Fenton."

_"Oh, hi! I tried to call you last night about the news!"_

Fenton frowned. He might have been fatigued from trying to work on the investigation, but he was a light sleeper. The phone ringing should have instantly woke him up, no matter how deep of a sleep he was in.

"Did Erik identify the man?"

_"Well…"_

"What happened?"

_"The name on the card was 'Adder Honovi.' That name is fake, and I found out Adder means 'venomous snake' and Honovi is 'snake priest.'"_

"A trick, then."

_"Other issue is that the man was described to look exactly like Joe."_

"Joe…? No, he couldn't be a killer…" Fenton slammed his fist on the counter. "That bastard's playing with us."

_"Joe was at school during then, too. I think the killer is trying to say Joe will be next, but I can't be sure. I'm not exactly the PI type."_

"It's okay, Simon. I can't blame you." _Joe was right. The credit card was a false lead… Could Joe be right about Snake and the stalker? Is there a link between them?_ "I'm going to pull Joe out of school now, just in case."

They hung up without much of a closing, and Fenton instantly dialed for the school secretary, Janet Moulder.

"Janet? It's Fenton Hardy."

_"Oh, hi! I was just about to call you! Is Joe okay?"_

"Joe…? But I thought he was at school."

"_Then he must have ditched. He hasn't shown up to any of his classes yet, and his friends haven't seen him all morning."_

"Okay… I'm going to check around, then," Fenton said, trying to hide the panic in his voice. "I mean…"

Memories started to haunt the PI as he checked the calendar. "It's almost his birthday, and without Frank…"

_"I understand. Those brothers loved each other. I'll call back later to make sure everything's okay."_

"Thank you, Janet." He hung up afterwards, and left his breakfast to sit on the counter.

Joe was probably in his room, then. Either that or Frank's. When they first received the news, he had locked himself in his brother's room, refusing to come out. The blonde just sat there, crying over his brother…

Fenton tried Frank's room first. It was empty, as if nothing had touched it. It shouldn't have been that much of a surprise, since the only person to stay in the room was Joe, and he didn't want to mess up anything. Making a mess would have been losing memories, and that was something Joe could not stand.

He peaked into Joe's room next, expecting to see his blonde son in bed, either crying or asleep. However, the scene that greeted him was none of those.

Broken glass had been scattered around the floor, appearing to have come from wine bottles. Books had been tossed everywhere, some with their bindings pierced with glass. The chair had been broken into several pieces, while the desk and bed had been flipped over.

In the center of all of the chaos, a single dagger stood straight up, the blade going through a picture frame, cutting through Frank and Joe's smiling faces.

-----------

Hawk sat in the kitchen, sipping from a mug of milk. She was bored. Snake had left earlier in the morning, using the new files to access the targets. She had been left to watch over the place and the secrets within.

_It was better stalking Joe,_ she thought as she looked at the gun that sat on the table in front of her. Next to it was a piece of paper that listed many things, only one that she was concerned about.

"Let's see… it's usually fifteen hours, but that's with someone of a weaker build. With someone like him, he should wake up about now…" She got up, putting her gun on the holster on her belt. Placing the mug down, she headed for the stairs.

"Time to open your eyes, Joe…"

----------

It was a jail cell underground. Probably an old house with a dungeon for who knows what. Joe got up, and stretched his muscles. _So Hawk didn't kill me. She drugged me and brought me here. But why?_

The blonde sat down on the cold, stone floor, not sure what else he was supposed to do but sit and wait. A question kept on haunting his mind: How come they didn't kill him yet?

"Snake never wanted to kill your brother." The sudden voice startled him, as he turned his head towards the door that lead to the stairs, where the assassin was. She leaned against the doorframe, looking very bored.

"Yeah, right," he responded bitterly.

"Your brother _was_ an interesting figure, Joseph. He hated your father, yet loved him." Hawk held up one of Frank's journals, as if it were nothing more than a bunch of paper.

"Everyone hates there parents at one point or another."

"But Fenton Hardy was neglectful. He never properly loved. Missed birthdays and Christmases. Getting you the wrong gifts. A back pack to replace a fishing trip. Books instead of a remote control car. Not even showing up for graduation from elementary school. He missed yours _and_ Frank's."

"He… he was… devoted to his work." The words sounded hollow in his ears, and Hawk smirked.

"Devotion, or obsession?" The smirk grew as she gently tossed the journal into the air. "It killed your brother, as you know. Not getting the love or attention to help him grow. Missing out on family activities. Not even knowing what to do for Father's Day."

Memories flashed through Joe's mind of past years when their father's absence ruined days that would have been fun otherwise.

"And then the great Fenton Hardy retired, and life almost seemed perfect. You had a father."

Almost automatically, the words flew out of the boy's mouth. "We went to training afterwards."

"Out of your whole life, you had a real father for a week. And then ATAC came along, and it all fell apart."

"Fell apart…?" Weren't those Frank's exact words?

"He bothered you about every single case. Was it out of worry? Love? Or simply because you could undermine his reputation?"

"His reputation," Joe repeated, slowly drinking in the words.

"If his sons failed, he was a failure. And he couldn't have that, now could he?"

Joe realized he had begun to shake. "He… he loved me…"

"So he said. But how many times were you able to relax with him? How many times has he hugged you? How many times did he say 'I love you' when a mission wasn't involved?!" The assassin shouted the last sentence, before regaining her composure. "And Frank took it all in. He cried behind a mask. Cried in his sleep. Cried when the world was happy. And then he took a knife-" She pulled a dagger from a strap around her leg. "-and he tried to die."

The image blasted through Joe's mind, as the memories flooded back after being hidden for so long…

"But he wanted to leave for another reason. He wanted Fenton to open his eyes and see you. See where he had gone wrong with his eldest son, and use the lessons on you. Your brother didn't just want to escape the pain. He wanted to help you."

"No… no!"

"There's even a letter for you about that." She opened up the journal, and pulled out a single sheet. "'Joe, if Dad realizes what he did wrong to me when I'm gone, he'll treat you better. In a sense, I'm dying to help you. Isn't it better for this to happen than going through our lives without Dad's love?'"

"Frank…" The name was mumbled as he leaned against a wall, tears flowing from his eyes.

"And he could have lived, Joe. He could have lived alongside Snake and become a great killer. Instead, he still worried about you. And he chose to die."

Not sure what could be the truth anymore, the blonde boy rested his head against the cold stones. "Why, Frank?"

"I'll leave this with you." Hawk placed the page back inside of the journal, before sliding it in-between the bars. It fell to the floor with a low thud. "Don't expect anyone to rescue you, either."

"Can you tell me one thing?" Joe turned, and through his tears stared into the cold eyes of the killer. "Why hasn't Snake killed me yet? Is it because of Frank?"

"You'll be surprised, Joseph. Your brother meant something to Snake. Frank was something that Snake had lost a long time ago."

"Am I a replacement, then?"

"No, no… Nothing could replace Frank, I think. Complete opposites are hard to find in this world." She turned away before addressing him again. "You father might have just realized you were missing. Last I checked, there isn't any search for you."

Joe didn't answer, so she continued.

"There's some food under that bunk of yours. And… I'll make a deal with you. How about, if you stay a good little boy and don't try to escape, I'll introduce you to Snake?"

"And if my father does find me?"

Hawk laughed. "If a miracle does occur, you'll have to decide for yourself. If you leave, then you'll never know who killed your brother. You'll never know Frank's last words or feelings. You can join your father and chase us for the rest of your lives, but if you want answers, it's better to take up my offer."

"I'll think about it, then." For some reason, he had built a bit of confidence against his captors. They didn't seem like they wanted him dead yet. "And for the record, you never loved me, right?"

"Love is something I'm not capable of, Joseph. If you've never had it when you grow up, why do you need it now?" With that, the assassin left Joe to his thoughts.

He thought over everything. His brother and his father. Had Frank really been willing to throw his life away to help him? While it did seem incredibly odd, Joe knew that his brother would give up his life in order to protect those he loved. Frank would have given it all away if it meant helping him.

_I would have been fine without it, Frank,_ the blonde thought bitterly as he got up, and picked the notebook off from the ground. _We both could of lived._

Without even realizing what he had done, Joe hated his father with a new rage that would never be quelled.

-----------

"You promised him something hard to achieve. What makes you think this'll work?" Snake asked, watching his partner from across the table.

"He's like you, Snake. Frank Hardy holds an importance to both of you. He'll see what we're capable of soon enough, and then he'll know exactly what to do." Hawk took a bit from her sandwich.

"Trust, then?"

"He was taught to grow up with it. Who says an assassin can't worm their way through?"

He shook his head, staring into his cup of juice. "I guess so."

"Besides, you trusted Frank. Who's to say that the bond didn't seep into his brother somehow?"

"Your logic is based on emotions."

"But it's the only logic you have at the moment."

"True." Snake looked toward the doorway leading to the prisoner below. "I'll let Fenton think this one over without me. As for now, I want to see Joe's devotion to his brother. With luck, it'll be better than Fenton's devotion to his sons."

"They lived on each other's love, Snake. Obsession never got in the way." Hawk smiled. "We'll break Joseph down, though. He'll make a good assassin-"

"No."

"No?"

"He's like his brother. He'll end up dying, because that's the only way to truly be free." Snake pulled out his gun. "And I'm going to help him when he's ready."


	11. Chapter 10

Sorry for taking so long! I had a lot of stuff to do, and I just finished. Now, to write!  
Warning: A bit depressing, and a hint of major suicidal feelings towards the end of the chapter.  
I do not own the Hardy Boys.  
Enjoy!

* * *

A day had passed with no answers. All that was left were questions waiting to be answered, and tears to be shed.

And Fenton Hardy was in the middle of it all.

He didn't know what he should do. Honestly, he had frozen with fear. His son… his _only_ son right now… gone…

He looked at the half empty wine bottle on the counter. Simon had done some tests, and found out that the wine had been drugged with something that could easily knock anyone unconscious. The idea wasn't comforting.

"So this was all planned," the PI muttered to himself.

"Was it Snake, then?" Laura's soft voice asked from behind him. "He threatened to go after Joe, didn't he? Maybe he just waited until now to… to…"

"It doesn't add up right."

"What do you mean?"

"Snake purposely leaves the bodies behind for us to find them. He _delivered_ Frank's remains to us. Why did he take Joe?"

"So, you think Joe's alive?"

"Yes. And I think that his stalker might have him, rather than the assassin." He walked over to the table, where a pile of folders had been stalked up. "I have a feeling that she knew Joe was in danger, so she kidnapped him."

"But what about the missing folders?"

Fenton shrugged. "Maybe she wants to stop Snake herself."

"And what? The problem will fix itself?"

Somewhere inside of the PI, he wanted to say _yes_. It would easier to catch a stalker than an assassin. If some kind of miracle had occurred, she would catch Snake and end that part of the nightmare.

But reality wasn't very kind. If anything, Snake might take Joe from her and kill the blonde. And kill the stalker too.

"No," he admitted. "We need to track her down-"

"Fenton!" Simon, who had been in the house helping the PI out, came running into the kitchen. "I- I-"

"Breath, Simon."

Taking in some deep breaths, the scientist held out a piece of paper to Fenton. "I found this in Joe's room, but it's not his handwriting."

"It's Frank's," Laura said, glancing at the paper before tears started to form in her eyes.

Fenton took the paper, and began to read it aloud. "'Dear Joe, I don't know what else I'm supposed to tell you. I poured my whole heart to you when you caught me. Why did you stop me? I could have finished the job, ended my life, and help you gain something. You know how I feel about Dad. So why did you stop me?'"

"Frank was suicidal?" Laura asked, her eyes wide open as tears continued to flow.

"I thought you knew!"

"What? So you knew?!"

"I just found out! I thought you-"

"Stop fighting," Simon said calmly. "It's already obvious that you two know none of this. Joe did, and maybe his friends found on."

"Snake knows," Fenton added bitterly.

"But wasn't he the one who took the journals?"

"We know he took one, and the stalker has another part of the same journal-"

"Then why have you been looking at them separately? Why not look at them together? From what I've seen, it's one force working two different ways just to get to you."

Fenton considered the idea. It wasn't like he hadn't thought of that before. It's just that it appeared as two separate cases as time went on, and that's the way he treated them. Not to mention that reading Snake's movements, which seemed to change daily, not including the motive and targets.

"There's more to the note," Laura finally said after a moment of silence passed between the three.

Fenton looked down, and continued to read it. "'Now, while this might sound like a suicide note, it's not. You reminded me that I have something to live for. If I had a knife in my hands, I would toss it away and try to find you. I can't kill myself. The moment has passed for now. Thank you, Joe. I love you, little bro.'"

It wasn't signed, but it was evident on how strong Frank felt as he marked the paper in ink. Fenton couldn't help but feel alone, farther away from what he thought was him understanding his sons.

"You have to find Joe," his wife said, turning to the doorway. "I'll… I'll ask around and see if anyone knows about… about Frank…"

"Okay," he answered softly. Clutching the note, he went back to his study, hoping that finding one of the criminals would catch them both.

---------

Hawk closed the laptop, slightly annoyed that she had left the note in Joseph's room. But, it would probably play out for the better. She and Snake were always prepared for this kind of issue…

"It was almost a waste to leave that equipment in their house," she mused aloud. "Someone needs to get Fenton talking-"

"It wasn't a waste."

Hawk didn't turn around to greet her partner. "Planning to use the note, then?"

"It's hard not to. And besides, having the ability to listen in to Fenton's house gives us the home advantage."

She considered the words as she got up. "If you had to kill him, would you?"

Hawk could almost see the frown on Snake's face. "Why do you want to know?"

"You care about Frank's opinion. He turned his hatred on his father to himself. He would rather die than hurt the stupid PI. What about you?"

He chuckled. "There's more pain in living sometimes, Hawk. Living to see the world around you crushed to little pieces…"

"I guess you're right." She took some steps towards the staircase. "When will you speak with Joseph?"

"Soon, Hawk. The time is almost ripe."

---------

Joe held the notebook against his chest. He had read it over and over, and began to understand some things about his brother he never thought he would never know. Sure, they shared a lot of their thoughts with each other. But some things were best left behind closed doors.

Like Frank's suicide reasoning.

Frank wanted to die to save Joe. In a crude way, it would have worked. Their father would have realized that Joe would need the love he had been denied all of his life. And Joe would have lived a better life.

"You're lucky."

He watched Hawk from the corner of his eye. "For what?"

"Having Frank as a brother."

"Yeah, I guess I was."

She sat against the bars of the cell. "What were you thinking about?"

The blonde wondered if he should tell the assassin or not. In the end, he realized he was longing for someone to talk to. "About how many people love me."

"And how big is the list?"

"Small, actually."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know. It's like… this whole damn thing opened my eyes a bit. I already knew that Dad was a bit…"

"Obsessive?"

"Yeah, that. And my friends all deserted me when you threatened their stuff. It's like no one gives a damn anymore." He let out a harsh laugh. "Reality sucks."

"So who can you trust?"

"My brother. Maybe Mom. How about you?"

"Snake."

"Of course." He turned his eyes back to the journal in his hands. "Do you trust me?"

She laughed. "What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know," Joe admitted. "I mean, I want to talk to Frank about all this, but he's dead."

"People tend to only trust dead men, Joseph. Their bodies and records may speak, but after that, they stay silent."

"'A dead man can't speak secrets.'"

"You're brother said that to Snake once. I'm not surprised that he wrote it down." She got up, and walked out of Joe's view, though her voice could still be heard clearly. "If you want another reason to why your brother's dead, it's because he knew something about Snake."

"So what? Snake decided Frank just shouldn't live because of _that_?"

"It happens all the time in the real world, Joseph. Who's to say that we're any different?"

Joe allowed a sarcastic grin to form on his lips. "And what? You're gonna kill me just because I've seen your face? Because I can identify you, even though you have a million disguises? Because you- you-"

The memory hit Joe hard. How could he have not realized it? How could he have forgotten already?

If Hawk knew what the blonde boy was thinking, she didn't say anything. Instead, she came back with a pile of paper, held by a paper clamp, in her hands. "I only said it was one possible reason."

Slipping the pile through the bars, she allowed it to fall to the stone floor. "These are the pages that Frank had removed from his last few journals. He filled two and a half while he was with us."

"So why are you showing me?"

"You wanted to find out about Snake, right? It has some of your answers. But the last page is last, got it?"

"Yeah, sure." Joe reached over, and took the thick stack. He was planning to read every single page in order, understand what was going on in his brother's mind, and try to digest it all.

"What would you say if I told you that Frank wanted to die?" Hawk asked, as she turned towards the stairs.

"I guess I would believe you," he said softly, before his eyes scanned his brother's soul written in words. "I can't blame him for wanting to leave this world."

----------

"You gave him the pages?" A day later, after managing to kill another target, Snake had come back to discover another mess. This one, however, was created by Hawk.

"He's depressed, Snake. He has no idea what to believe in. All it takes is a little bit of information, and he'll understand. And when we release-"

Snake frowned at his partner, who was handing him a glass of water. "Who said we're going to release him?"

"He'll make a good spy-"

"He doesn't understand, Hawk." The glass was crushed in his gloved hand, as he took huge strides to the staircase. "He'll ruin everything!"

"He's Frank's brother. He'll do what's right-"

"Really? Because no matter what Frank did, he couldn't hate his father. And if Joe is like Frank, then it won't work out." He walked down the stairs, grateful that Hawk decided to leave Joe to his fate.

However, he could hear her words as he descended: "He loves Frank more."

Snake pulled out a gun that was resting between the belt of his pants and skin, finger already wanting to pull the trigger. He was going to show Joe what the world was like, no matter what he had promised Frank…

The blonde boy didn't look up as the assassin came into view. Instead, Joseph was facing the wall, pages scattered around him.

"I read it through the night. I… I wonder what Frank would do if I was the one who died first. If we just switched places…" A small sob escaped from the boy. "He would still want to put you behind bars, Snake. He would want you to face justice."

"Did you read the last page?" Snake's voice even surprised himself, as the grip on the gun loosened a bit.

"Just about to get there. Unless… unless you want to kill me first. I could ask Frank when I see-"

"Read the damn page."

Joseph didn't protest. He just looked down, holding the last, fragile piece of information that his brother had left in this world. Moments took small steps by, as Snake waited for a response.

Finally, Joseph turned his head, and for the first time, looked into Snake's eyes. The blue eyes were dimmed from a combination of tears and glancing at the words in ink. He muttered quietly, "If I'm in your way, just kill me."

"Suicidal already?" the assassin said with a chuckle, lifting up his gun.

"This is the reason, wasn't it? Why you went and took Frank away from us. Because he didn't want to be in the way anymore, right?"

Snake didn't answer, and the boy didn't encourage one.

"Please, kill me."

A single gunshot filled the house with its sound, before taking cover under the silence.


	12. Chapter 11

Sorry for taking a while. I had writer's block for a bit on this story... and studying for other stuff didn't help at all...  
I do not own the Hardy Boys.  
Enjoy!

* * *

Fenton had never felt so useless in his entire life until the past couple of days. He wanted to guarantee to be of some use while locating his blonde son, ensuring the teenager's safety. But so far, he contributed nothing.

He wasn't the only one turning up empty handed, however. The police and ATAC had been fruitless in their searches as well. It was as if Joe had been erased from this world, but his presence from the past still remained.

The retired PI knew it had to have been Snake, even though there had been no call to confirm his growing suspicions. The more he had thought about, the more Joe's theory had made sense. It had already been confirmed through Frank's journal that there were two assassins. Hawk was most likely the candidate who was torturing Joe while Snake continued on killing.

Fenton glanced at the picture frame on his desk for about the hundredth time that day. The brothers had been captured on film, a moment of perfection recorded by the camera. Both pairs of eyes were staring at him, as if asking what he would do next.

He wasn't so sure himself. The files he had were taken from him, and the names that the assassin had rattled off had all been found dead within a matter of hours.

Only Snake, with some help, could have pulled this off. Only he could pull his son off the face of the earth, after delivering the remains of the older boy. He killed victims silently in the shadows, or up in their faces.

And the bastard was enjoying himself every second.

The other issue that been bothering Fenton as of late was caused by his deceased son. It was as if Frank was watching his every move, _anticipating_ Fenton's choices, and enjoying the whole mess of a show.

Of course, the Frank that reality would have presented was the one who would worry over his brother, and demand revenge for his death, as well as the deaths of the others. It was like this in almost all of the other cases; the key difference is that he was alive.

But the more Fenton thought about it, the more he questioned how much he knew of either one of his sons. Laura came back the following day, reporting that no one knew of Frank's death intentions. It seemed that only Joe knew the truth behind that mystery.

What would Frank say to him, if given the chance to show his true colors? Would the boy call Fenton a horrible person? Would he begin to list off all of the things that the PI had done wrong to the family?

The only thing to comfort Fenton now was a jar of ash, sitting next to the picture frame.

He was about to give up for the day on trying to figure out who Snake was. That identity could bring them all one step closer to stopping Snake for good, while rescuing his son while avenging the other one.

A call came through to the house. Not sure what to expect, the PI was hesitant about picking up the phone, but he did by the end of the second ring. "Hello?"

_"We found Joe!"_

--------------

"So you followed my idea in the end," Hawk commented, taking a sip of her water. They were back at the abandoned house, after dropping off their kidnapped victim on the other side of town, before proceeding to kill off another target.

"I guess I did." His eyes continued to stare down the pile of journals. "I was planning on burning these, but they are a vast amount of wealth in knowledge, once I think about it."

"They certainly seemed to have entertained Joseph." She grinned. "So why didn't you kill him?"

"Because he's too young."

"You killed Frank, and he was fifteen," she pointed out.

"He was turning sixteen this year, Hawk. I think I'll wait just a few more days."

"His birthday is next week, isn't it?"

"Fifteen would be a better age to kill him than fourteen." He smirked, before walking towards the steps to the basement. "Would you mind calling up our 'friend'? Even though Joseph seems committed, it's better to have another pair of eyes watching."

"I need to apologize anyways. Making him seem like such a bad guy…" Hawk laughed, then pulled out her cell phone. She dialed the number she had memorized by heart, and waited for someone to answer. "Shadow? It's Hawk. We have one last thing for you to do for us…"

--------------

The world moved around Joe, as if he was the only think that remained constant. Then again, he didn't care about his surroundings anymore. Only his new task…

When Snake fired the gun, the blonde couldn't help but think that it was his last moment in this world. But a last second maneuver had made the bullet go through the wall instead, less than an inch away from his head.

_"Not yet."_

That was when Hawk came down, and the three just talked a bit. He never thought that he would be talking to the assassin who had killed Frank, but it happened. And Joe could see why Frank had chosen the path that he had. He understood the burden on his brother's shoulders, and why the brunette had left the world the way he did.

And, true to the promise he had made, Joe was going to follow Frank.

He watched from the window at the police station as his father's car pulled into the parking lot. The man was quick to get into the building and head for the blonde.

"Joe, are you okay?" Fenton examined Joe's face, trying to see his son's soul through his eyes.

But Joe's eyes had stopped revealing his emotions. He gave up on being a part of this world the second he met Snake.

"Fine," he answered in a calm voice. He felt his father hugging him, and he forced himself to hug back.

"What happened? Where were you taken? Why-"

"It was my stalker. And she turned out to be really nice. Just misunderstood a bit." Those statements were true, but he could tell that Fenton had taken it a different way. And he continued to lead Fenton down that false road. "Turns out she was just really, really shy, and didn't know how to talk face to face. And she only 'kidnapped' me because she was worried about Snake."

"Where is she?"

"She left me here, and drove off. I think she's embarrassed by the whole situation." He turned away from his father's worried glance. "I don't want her charged with anything, Dad. It was just a whole misunderstanding. Okay?"

His father still seemed upset, so Joe decided to add more to the story. "She swore that she would go to a psychologist today, and start getting professional treatment. And I'll be in contact with her when I can to help her along."

Joe could see that the older man was starting to be a little satisfied with the story. "But what about your room?"

"My room? What are you talking about? I mean, I was kidnapped, but the girl didn't even touch my stuff!"

He could hear the gears in his father's head, trying to figure out the whole situation. "It seems like your stalker got to you first, and then Snake-"

"Snake got into our house?"

"It would appear so."

"Then let's go home! You have a case to solve!" Joe got up, hoping that Fenton would agree. And the blonde wasn't disappointed when the older man nodded his head.

That night, while lying in bed, Joe could help but think that this was all way too easy. The worst part of the whole situation seemed to be that he had to wait a week before getting what he had wanted the most.

He had never been so anxious for a day to come in his life. Then again, this was the first time he ever had a death wish for his birthday, and he knew it would come true.

-------------

Snake held the phone to his ear. "So, Hawk already told you?"

_"Piece of cake, Snake. Just get the files, and pass them on to you. Question is, does he know who I am?"_

"Had to tell him. But we shouldn't be too worried." A smile formed on his lips. "Joseph's just like his brother. Loyal, angry at his father, and wanting to get revenge."

_"Never thought you were the type to play around with emotions, my friend."_

"It wasn't planned, but it's working out."

_"Where are you going to stage the whole thing?"_

"I was thinking about that. It's his birthday, so he should have a show. And, of course, a grand death just like Frank's."

_"A show? Who would be invited?"_

"You and Hawk, of course. And I'm thinking the police force. ATAC members." His grin grew as he added, "And Fenton Hardy will get the front seat to witness his son's death."

* * *

Now that I think about it, I usually ask for books for my birthday...


	13. Chapter 12

After much thought, I realized that this might have to be bumped up a rating because of what lies ahead. I might not in the end, but so far, I'm planning that the next few chapters will be full of blood and gore. Just a warning.

I do not own the Hardy Boys.  
Enjoy!

* * *

This wasn't his son.

Joseph Hardy was lively, carefree, and certainly not broken. There were times when he wasn't any of these things, but they had passed with the breeze. Even if the last few weeks were far from ideal, Joe wasn't like this at all.

His eyes were filled with false hope. He helped out, was polite to everyone, and locked himself away in his room when time allowed.

Fenton couldn't even think properly as he tried to track down Snake. It didn't even bother him that more and more of his files that were connected to the case went missing. It had been a few days since Joe came back, but it was as if it was only a shell.

"Joe, can I talk to you?" he asked through the door of the blonde's room.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Door's unlocked."

Pushing the door open, Fenton was surprised to the sight that greeted him. Joe's room had been cleaned up for evidence, but Joe took it a step further. It was really clean, which was something the blonde was not known for. Said blonde was currently organizing his books on the lower shelf, his face relaxed but still possessing the sense of a mask over his feelings.

"Joe, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Dad."

"You usually don't clean your room."

"Well, I've been thinking a lot. It'll be better if I knew where everything was, just in case." The unsaid words played in Fenton's head: _just in case Snake steals something…_

"Can I ask you something?"

"Huh?" Joe looked up from the pile of books on the floor. "Oh, sure."

"Is that girl really okay? Because-"

"She's _fine,_ Dad." Joe sighed. "You don't believe me?"

"I trust your words Joe, but she did kidnap you-"

"I told you, misunderstanding. She's getting help, and everything will be okay. Got it?" The blonde sighed. "Just let it slide, okay? You have more important things to worry about."

"Well..."

"Another question?"

"Snake told me that Frank tried to commit suicide, as I'm sure you're aware of by now. I want to know what actually happened."

The muscles in the teenager tensed up, as if the PI had asked some taboo question.

"Well?"

"It doesn't matter," the blonde mumbled. "He's dead now."

"Joe, it certainly does matter. Frank would have died because-"

"And he's dead now!" The sudden burst surprised them both, and Joe kept his gaze on the books. "Listen, it happened a while ago. I'm not gonna deny it. But it was the past Dad. There's nothing you could have done, anyways."

Fenton sensed that the conversation had ended in the boy's eyes. So, instead of prodding further with other things that needed answers, he got up, and walked out of the room.

The only positive thing that appeared to have happened due to the talk was that Fenton found it easier to concentrate on his work of bringing the assassin to justice.

------------

"I'll pick up the bag today, Shadow. You have your own stuff to do," Hawk said into the cell phone. "You can stop doing this altogether, if you want. Snake can handle everything else."

_"I'm going to take you up on the offer. It's becoming too suspicious to see me hanging with the kid."_

"I guess it is. Well, you'll come for the 'grand show'," Hawk said, very tempted to make quotation marks in the air even if Shadow couldn't see it. Shadow was the one who originally gave it the name, and it stuck. Odd, how people could find humor in this situation.

She hung up, before resting against the wall. It was happening all too quickly for them to sit back and enjoy. But maybe it was better this way. To have less time between now and seeing Fenton's horror as his own son dies right in front of him… on Joseph's birthday, too…

She smirked. Maybe time was going at the right pace, after all.

------------

_I'm helping assassins kill off those stupid assholes. You would think I would be happier._ Joe walked to school, once again ignoring all those stares headed in his direction. It had been like that since he was kidnapped, and he honestly stopped caring.

_Look all you want. It'll be the last time you ever see me like this._

He opened his locker, to find a lunch neatly placed on top of all his books. He couldn't help but smile. His guardian angel was back.

The rest of the day seemed to be the exact same thing that had happened on the previous days. People asked in worried tones about his health, and he would reply in that fake, cheerful way, "I'm fine."

Was he truly alright? He liked to think so, considering the fact that his birthday was coming up, along with the idea of getting his wish.

He still had the image of Snake pointing the gun at his head, eyes merciless and almost uncaring. A hint of sadness was blended into those eyes, along with the permanent reflection of Frank.

Still, these thoughts never made their way to his face. Instead, Joe allowed people to think he was happy and content with the turn of events.

Classes passed by in a slow manner, worse than any other time before. Notes were pointless to write down, yet Joe scribbled words down anyways.

At lunch, he found an empty area in the courtyard near a maple tree. He had already gotten rid of the lunch his mother had packed that morning, instead leaving it in the fridge so his father could eat it later. He pulled out the lunch that Hawk had left him, and ate silently.

It was an entertaining fact; an assassin making an almost gourmet lunch without adding any kind of poison or such. If he wasn't wearing the mask he called his face, he probably would have laughed.

When the school day ended, the blonde found himself drawn to the track. He dropped his bag near the bleachers, away from everyone else. He jogged a few laps, ignoring the other activity around him.

In the corner of his eye, he saw his bag disappear into the shadows of the bleachers. Minutes later, it reappeared, looking untouched.

Ending his exercise, Joe walked over and picked up the bag. It was lighter, and a peak inside revealed that the folders were taken.

He slung it over his shoulder, and walked home as if nothing had happened.

--------------

The stack of folders grew daily, which could have been a factor contributing to Snake's good mood. The boy was very loyal, easily betraying his own father when he found out the truth of the matter.

He couldn't help but smiled as he played out Joseph's birthday in his head. He alone can say that he got rid of the Hardy brothers. Maybe he would even get rid of Fenton in the end.

Of course, killing the mother would have finished the deal, making it all a package. But no… Snake was kinder than that, even if he never admitted it.

Thoughts about a family slowly erased the smile from his face. It bothered him, for some unknown reason. But, he brushed the feelings away. Emotions that had been locked way should not bother to reawaken.

"Only a few more days." Snake took out his gun, allowing the light from the window a rare glance at the metal. "I better keep myself occupied until then."

If anything, the idea of taking Joseph's life only increased his lust for spilt blood. The faster he got the folders, the faster he would kill off the targets. Some were silent, and they never realized what had happened. Others had to face Snake directly, fear painting their eyes.

Somewhere, deep inside of the assassin, a part of him looked out into the world it had hidden from. It hid from the bloodshed, the pain, and the truth.

And for some reason, that little bit of him smiled.


	14. Chapter 13

**Please read this before reading the chapter!**  
This chapter is a bit more bloodier and though provoking than the others. If you are not up to killing and talking about suicide, then when you reach Joe's part (makred by *******), stop reading. I won't be offended in any way.

For those of you who are going to read the entire chapter anyways, enjoy.  
(And I still do not own the Hardy Boys.)

* * *

Fenton didn't like the feeling of a barrier between him and Joe. However, any attempt to speak to the blonde became fruitless. The emotions that had once been encased in the blonde just melted away. His son had cast himself to a deserted island, and no one could reach him.

Laura had as much luck as the PI did. She best she could do was coax her son out of his room to attend to various matters. She continued to talk to Joe, but he would never return the questions and statements with the same spirit that used to dwell in him.

The only thing that Joe added to was encouraging his father to capture Snake. It was as if that idea alone would keep the boy attached to the world. So, Fenton continued to lock himself in his study, following every lead he could from behind closed doors.

There was only one other noticeable time when the boy answered a question with some kind of emotion in his voice.

"Do you want anything for your birthday, Joe?" Fenton asked. In a mere two days, Joe would officially be fifteen years old. A decade and a half, which would explain why Fenton felt that he had so many grey hairs.

The dinner table was silent as the teenager thought over his answer. Swallowing a mouthful of rice, Joe answered, "I dunno. Can we just… not do anything?"

"Are you sure Joe?" Laura asked. She had decided that pushing Joe would probably be the worst thing to do, and favored gradual healing at his own pace.

"Yeah. It's not really a big day, anyways." Joe began to move around the food on his plate with his fork. "I mean… Now that Frank's…"

"It's okay," Fenton said quickly. "It's your birthday, so if you want us to leave you alone, we will."

"Thanks, Dad." Joe got up, and began to bring his dishes into the kitchen. "I'm gonna work on some homework."

"Okay, sweetie." Laura's eyes never left the retreating figure. Only when the dull sound of a door closing did she turn her attention towards her husband. "This can't only be because of that girl."

Fenton nodded his head in agreement. "I think that his birthday is bringing up more memories of Frank than he can handle."

"What do you mean?"

"Every year, Frank manages to pull off something extravagant for Joe. I think the memories from the past years are catching up to Joe again." He took another bite from his dinner.

"Maybe we should take him to see a psychologist."

"We might only make the problem worse. He refused to go when we first found out. ATAC almost threatened to suspend him as an agent, but he still wouldn't go."

"Did he give a reason?"

"He said that no one could understand what they've been through together."

Laura frowned. "I still think it would be nice if there was someone he could talk to. Moving at his own pace is fine, but keeping all of those emotions bottled in might result into something… disastrous."

The subtle hint of Frank's apparent suicidal feelings forced Fenton to close his eyes. An image of Joe, sitting in the middle of his room, covered with blood… His wrists neatly cut, spilling out the crimson liquid and draining his life…

"Okay. We'll take him to a psychologist," he agreed, after forcing the image out of his mind. "Should I talk to him, or should you?"

Minutes after making their decision, the couple cleaned out the remains of the meal before heading up to the blonde's room. They hadn't realized that their choices in the matter were no longer important. In truth, the topic never came up again, despite the amount of emotions and logic that had been put into forming the idea for their son's recovery.

Joe's room was clean and empty. The only noticeable difference that caught their eyes was the cuts in the wall near the opened window, resembling a snake.

---------------

Hawk watched as Joseph weighed the knife in his hand, examining the blade in the light given off by the lamp. The blade was sharp, reflecting the objects of the room in a contorted way.

"How many people have you killed with this?" he asked finally, glancing up at her.

"Actually, it's an 'innocent' blade. Hasn't touched any sort of blood yet," she said. "I already have a set that I enjoy, so it's really just collecting dust."

"Oh."

Silence filled the room for minutes, before the assassin finally said, "Why did you agree?"

"You mean to Snake's idea?" The blonde shrugged. "This is what Frank did at one point, right? Snake just pointed him at someone, and then it happened. Why shouldn't I do the same?"

"Once you taint yourself, you can't go back."

"Then let me be covered in blood."

Instead of asking anything else, Hawk silenced the questions in her head as she walked to the kitchen.

_So devoted to his brother._ Closing her eyes, she summoned a mental image of Jackie. _Is this what you wanted in the end? A family?_

A smirk formed on her lips. _A family that has lines cracking right through them? Where you realize you cannot trust the ones that gave birth to you? One that's going to be torn apart right in front of their eyes?_

She sighed as she heard the car pull up to the driveway. _Time to start the show, Joseph._

---------------

*******He hated to admit it, but he felt very content with what he was doing. It was funny, when Joe thought about it. His father always told him that doing something like this meant that he was becoming one of the lawless… or something like that. The memory wasn't easy to summon, especially since there was something else he should be concentrating on…

He dodged the knife that was trying to rip him apart. The man's face was full of fury, fully intent on living. But he was a target, so his desires were to be ignored.

The blonde's fist connected to the man's face, using so much force that blood began to make its way down his opponent's face.

_Oh God._

He ducked again, and landed another punch. This time, it was the man's gut. But unlike in other fights, he was fighting someone with really little experience.

He wasn't holding back, either.

"Mother fu-" The man couldn't finish his insult. A kick had sent him flying to the wall, his scream not overpowering the unmistakable sound of bones cracking.

Joe never knew he had that strength. Then again, his father always told him to hold back. And this time, it wasn't his father who was watching.

He ignored the blood that was spilling out of the man's wounds. The same blood that had begun to stain the blonde's clothes and settled on his fist. The idea of such an act still didn't fully register in his mind. It was probably better this way, anyways.

Before the man could recover, Joe had the man pinned to the wall, both hands on his throat. He squeezed harder and harder, just hoping it would be over soon…

But the man was stubborn. With his last bit of strength, he aimed the knife at Joe. But Joe had the advantage of youth, speed, and strength; therefore he caught the wrist with ease. With one hand still choking the target, the teenager forced the knife out of the man's hand. It fell to the floor without a second glance.

With his free hand, Joe pulled the knife Hawk had given him from his pocket. The handle fitted so well into his grasp, and the blade had yet to be touched with blood… Blood that it would be the cause for… Spilt all over the ground and mark their steps…

_No!_

But it was already too late. He plunged the blade into the man's chest, twisting it for emphasis. The man fell to the ground, splashing in the pool of blood from his wounds.

The man's cries filled the empty parking lot, which only hurt the blonde more. He was never this violent to anyone! Things like this had filled his nightmares, but never would he have believed that he would _agree_ to do such an act…

But then again, in that little world of his, Frank would have never taken the path that he did.

Absentmindedly, he took the gun that Snake held out to him, and shot the man. Instantly, the cries were silenced, but the blood that was pooling on the ground was spreading faster.

It finally dawned on the blonde what had happened. He killed a man.

And for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to hate his own guts.

---------------

Snake couldn't wipe the smirk on his face if he tried. The lack of an attempt just made the smirk stay longer as he drove the car back to what he could consider "home" for the time being.

Joseph sat in the passenger seat, staring at the knife. Even though he had readily agreed to change out of his blood-soaked clothes and wash his hands, he had refused to clean the blade.

The assassin decided to break the silence, and remind the teenager about the target. "ATAC supervisor who molested the agents under him. He-"

"I know.' Joseph turned his attention to the scenery outside. "Just…" The sentence hung in the air, neither one of them finishing it.

After a few minutes, the blonde asked, "When does someone accept their fate to leave the world that they grew up in?"

Snake thought for a second, before replying, "When they feel like they've done all they can, and need to move on. It's easier to decide that when nothing's holding you down."

"Oh." Silence reigned again for another moment, before another question was asked. "If they knew their fates beforehand, would they end their lives?"

"Maybe. But some are still willing to go on. Maybe that's why it's the 'unknown.' It separates us to the strong and weak."

"How so?"

"The weak want to know their ending. The strong risks all of it to move on."

"Does that mean that Frank was weak? Am _I_ weak?"

"You two aren't weak. Just tired of this world."

"Are you tired of this?"

The assassin pondered the question. "Sometimes, I guess I am."

"Can you do me a favor, then?"

"Depends."

"Make my father tired of this world."

If possible, the smirk on Snake's face only grew. "I wasn't planning on doing any less."

* * *

Not much I can say about this... Just be ready for more...


	15. Chapter 14

**Please read this before continuing on to the chapter!**  
Once again, this chapter is bloody. When you get to Joe's part (indicated by *******) and cannot handle blood and such ideas related to it, I advise you skip over it. However, Snake's part does not have blood, so once you see the dashes after Joe's part, you're good to go.  
I do not own the Hardy Boys.  
Enjoy!

* * *

Fenton already knew who was calling him when the phone rang. It had been a day since Joe had disappeared, and this time it was definitely not the girl's fault.

"Where's my son, Snake?" Fenton demanded from the person at the other side of the line the second he picked it up.

_"You're the detective, Fenton. You tell me,"_ the voice at the other end replied.

"What do you want with him?"

_"You should know by now, Fenton. I guess I did overestimate you detection abilities. Oh well. You had a nice start to this whole game…"_

"Bastard!"

_"Your vocabulary skills aren't that much better. Just to let you know, my parents are still together."_

In some ways, it seemed as if Snake had slipped up and had given Fenton a clue. However, it had very little value at the moment. There were tons of couples still together. Even if it eliminated the population of divorced people, that still left quite a bit for him to work with. Especially since the PI did not even have a description to work with.

"If any harm comes to my son-"

_"It is harm that he could have avoided. Especially with a mouth like his… Then again, he has been very quiet as of late. I wonder why…"_ The pride in the voice was playing with Fenton, toying with him. If he wanted his blonde son back, he would have to endure it.

"What do you want?"

_"Well, telling you to back off the case is too easy now. Not to mention a bit too late."_ The assassin paused for a bit, as if waiting for Fenton to scream some insult at him. When none came, Snake continued. _"How about this; the old warehouse near the woods. An old tire company that had owned it had closed down and no one bought, I believe_."

"It's been sitting there for decades," Fenton muttered.

_"I'll bring Joseph over there, and you come along with no more that ten people who know about ATAC. It'll happen right on your precious son's birthday. And if you don't follow my rules, you'll never see Joseph as a whole. Maybe in bits…"_

"Fine." He thought for a second, before adding, "What about my wife?"

_"What about her?"_

"You're going to kidnap her, aren't you?"

_"We'll leave her alone. She already has too much to deal with…"_

"And I'm supposed to trust that?"

_"On my word as a killer, yes. But do feel free to move her to some 'safe' location. I swear I won't watch."_

The words had the opposite effect. Something within the PI dwelled on the thought of the assassin waiting to get to Laura. He had already lost Frank, on the verge of losing Joe (if the rescue did not turn out fruitful), and maybe even losing himself to the chaos that the killer had brought into his life.

"You will not touch Laura."

_"We already established that fact. What's wrong? Can't trust me?"_ There was an unmistakable laughter in the voice, despite the fact that the assassin had not actually laugh. Was he hiding it to mock Fenton even more?

"Who could trust a monster like you?"

_"You'd be surprised. While on the topic, however… I wonder how many people have abused the trust you've placed into them…"_

The PI didn't respond, instead choosing to ponder over the words. Like any man, he had placed his trust in others to find that it had been misused. There was one incident in particular, dating to his times on the New York City police force. His partner had become corrupted, for a lack of better words to describe what had taken place.

Nonetheless, despite the experience, Fenton had misplaced his trust in some people. (In his mind, however, he thought that the time with his partner stealing and selling off the evidence was by far the worst of the cases.)

"I'm placing my trust in killers, aren't I?"

_"Not just Hawk and myself, Fenton, even though I can assure you we can be trusted for this matter… I'm talking about others that you have known. People who you trust would make sure that the agents in your little agency will live. And I'm not talking about adults, Fenton. I'm talking about the children, tomorrow's generation, if you will…"_

An image of teenagers and younger children covered in blood filled Fenton's head. A mountain of corpses, will blood pooling at the base. At the top, a shadowy figure (who Fenton assumed was Snake) sat as if on a throne. And there was fire around them, burning as the assassin laughed at the pain he created-

_"And I'm not the one who started it."_

"What?" Fenton said, snapping out of his thoughts.

_"They started this. I'm just responding."_ With that, the line went dead.

Fenton put down the phone, recalling the last phrase. The words were easy to grasp, yet hard to hold in his mind. Snake claimed that he was not the aggressor; merely, he was retaliating something. But what?

Snake had said that the agents would be hurt. So, it had to be someone who knew about ATAC. But who had he trusted enough to put the lives of teenagers into their hands…?

_No one_, he thought. _No one outside of who works there._ While there had been cases where agents were requested, it was usually a one time thing. Not to mention that some of those people who made the request were sometimes suspects themselves, so the agents were very careful of their surroundings…

_The ones that the agents trust their lives with are themselves, their partners, and the ones who work-_

Wherever the assassin was, he was probably laughing at Fenton for taking so long to realize what was happening.

With that thought in mind, the PI placed a call. "Q, I want all the adults who work for ATAC to have a background check."

-------------

Hawk chuckled when she placed down the headphones. How was it possible that Fenton Hardy had survived being a PI for so long?

She opened a new file on the laptop that rested on the table. The seconds passing by could easily be counted down, waiting for that one moment soon to come.

The noise of a chair moving on the opposite side of the table didn't distract her from her work. In fact, she didn't even look up to greet the other person. It was like an unwritten treaty between the three residents in the house. All she was doing now was waiting for the questions to start appearing from the boy's lips.

"Do you have a sword?"

"I have a few… I guess you could say, 'contacts.' You need it by tonight, I believe."

"Yes." Without even glancing up, Hawk could tell that Joseph had shifted his gaze. His fists were tightening from where he held them under the table. He became stiff from the memories that had flooded back into his mind, trying to comprehend what had happened…

It wasn't the first time, and it wasn't going to be the last. But that last time was coming soon for him. It wouldn't be very long until he was freed from the torture his own mind put him through.

"What kind?"

"Huh?" he responded, pulled out of his thoughts.

"The sword. You know the types, I assume."

"Uh… a katana, if you could," Joseph mumbled.

"Not a broadsword? Funny, I thought you would use something like a claymore or a schiavona."

"No… I… It's just…"

"It's okay." She looked up for the first time. Joseph looked tired and troubled. "There's a katana in the umbrella holder near the front door. A bit hidden, but there."

"Okay." He got up, and slowly walked out of the kitchen.

"Frank was like this after he killed someone, too."

The sentence stopped the teenager in mid-step, and he turned to her, surprised.

Hawk diverted her attention back to the laptop. "The journal entry he wrote about waking up with blood on his hands was true. That was after his first kill. He had literally shut down his mind when he killed that target. Thought that he would never remember that kill. A very nice job taking that man's life, too."

"Did he remember?"

"Eventually."

"And what did he do after that?"

"Just thought about it. In the end, he accepted the fact that he was a killer and moved on."

"Thanks." With that, Joseph left the kitchen quietly, as if trying to drink it all in.

_He will in the end. He is Frank's brother after all._

----------------

*******The sword was easy to maneuver, as if he had done this all of his life. He wasn't sure what he had done before to make the feeling familiar, but he was grateful it was there.

Joe dodged the man with ease, trying to find where the other woman had run off to. She didn't seem to be the type of person to fight at all, and had quickly retreated once her husband pulled out a metal bat to combat the sword.

The man swung it again, narrowly missing Joe's head. Using a narrow gab in time, he swept the katana. It cut through the man's stomach, but it wasn't deep.

_Damn it!_ Blood had started to spill on the kitchen floor, staining the cream color tiles. If his opponent had felt it, he made no signs to tell him. Instead, he backed up, as if only beginning to understand how strong Joe was.

That was, until he reached for the phone on the counter.

In one swift movement, Joe had struck the sword into the phone _and_ hand. Something inside his mind screamed. _No! I wasn't supposed to hurt him! I was only trying to strike the phone!_

But something else had taken over the blonde. Something that told him it was alright to smirk at the victim. It was alright to laugh at his pain, before spilling even more blood. That something scared him, but all he could manage to do was listen to it.

He pulled the katana out of the wound, watching as the crimson liquid gushed out of the opening. He almost didn't see the bat, but he did in time. The sword was swung once more.

The image burned itself into his head. He had cut off the man's hand from the arm.

Suddenly, Joe grew aware of the screams of pain filling the air. They were deafening, not because of the volume, but because of what it meant to the blonde. What he was going to do. What he was becoming.

He started striking. Over and over with the sword at the man's dying body. He let himself be consumed by rage, finding an outlet by putting more holes in the man.

A different scream turned his attention. The woman was back, holding a gun and pointing the barrel straight at him. Tears blinded her as she saw the sight.

She pulled the trigger.

The bullet went through the chest of the man. Joe had escaped the damage, and turned the blade on her.

By the time he was done, two corpses laid side by side on the cream tiles, covered in crimson.

Blood once again soaked his clothes, but it didn't really matter to the blonde. He took a washcloth from the sink, and wipes the blade off all remains of the target's blood.

When Snake came downstairs while an armful of files and folders, he didn't say much. Just glanced at the mess in the kitchen before nodding to the teenager.

"Let's go," Joe said, sparing one last look at the bloody couple. He kick the severed hand to its owner, before turning and walking out the front door.

--------------

It was deep into the night when Joseph finally came to talk. By then, the assassin had gone through over half of the papers that had been retrieved. It was a very successful day.

The blonde sat next to Snake, keeping a steady watch over the growing pile of folders.

"My kills are messy."

"They get better with time," Snake replied absentmindedly, opening a new file.

"Right." Silence ruled for a moment or two, before Joseph spoke up again. "Will it work?"

"We checked the place quite a few times before we told your father-"

"He's not my father."

Snake didn't say anything, waiting for the answer to fill the emptiness.

"My father would have made sure this never would have happened."

"Fenton, then. We looked before we told Fenton, and someone is making sure nothing is moved. It will work out perfectly."

"Which gun?"

The assassin gestured to the one that sat on the table. "The same one that took Frank away from you."

The blonde sat quietly, appearing to be trapped in thought. After minutes had passed with nothing filling the air but the movement of paper, the teenager got up.

"Thank you." And with that, he left the room.

_The words to seal his fate,_ Snake mused. _The same ones that Frank had used, too._


	16. Chapter 15

**Please read this before reading the chapter!  
**Once again, if you don't like blood, stop reading at ***.

I do not own the Hardy Boys.  
Enjoy!

* * *

The day arrived, counted down by the number of bloody bodies that had turned up. The worst that came up was a couple who helped organize the missions, found stabbed to death. The image of the severed hand had haunted Fenton's mind.

The idea that came along with it did not calm his nerves. This death was different than the others that they had encountered. This one had easily been the bloodiest that they had seen.

Had Snake and Hawk changed their killing styles? Most likely not. They weren't trying to throw the trail off them. The former in particular enjoyed the spotlight. There was the possibility of the man trying to send a message, but what need did he have for it? Snake could do it efficiently with some other method. The assassin probably knew that, as well.

The PI knew nothing of Hawk. Unlike her partner, she had not contacted Fenton (or anyone else, for the matter) since she began. There was the possibility that she had done it, but it seemed unlikely as well. If she worked together with Snake, she would know that Snake had his own agenda with Fenton, and would most likely not interfere.

That really left him with only one other option to believe: there was another assassin.

He hated to think about is; despised the idea, if he really allowed himself to think about it. But there seemed to be no other answer that he could come up with.

To say that Fenton Hardy was calm and collected would be a serious lie.

He stood outside the abandoned warehouse with five adults and Laura. His wife was persistent in going to rescue his son. Fenton had completely disagreed when she presented the idea, but he forced himself to swallow his pride and allowed her to come. Besides, he still couldn't trust the assassin's words on leaving Laura alone.

Each of them had a gun, and knew how to use it if the situation called for it. One look around the place gave Fenton the feeling that they would need it. The walls were worn, some parts even having holes to let the sunlight in. Tires were left around to sit and wait for nothing.

"Hello, Fenton." The voice was familiar in multiple pitches, yet had a different tone to it. The PI turned towards the entrance, where a figure clad in black stood. Not an inch of skin could be seen, and whatever hair the person had was hidden under the motorcycle helmet that was donned.

_There must be a voice disguiser in the helmet,_ Fenton silently mused. Studying the figure, he asked, "Are you Hawk?"

"That I am." She did a bow, as if mocking the group. "My partner is with Joseph, so if you want to see him again, I suggest you listen to our little rule."

"What rule?"

"No guns or weapons." She paused, absorbing the reactions. "The same rule applies to myself. In truth, Joseph is carrying a sword, and Snake will hand his gun over to your son when he's completed a certain… task, you can say."

"Why would he do that?" Steven, one of the men who had come to help with the situation, asked.

"It's Joseph's birthday, is it not? We have to be nice to the birthday boy." She pulled out two guns and a dagger, tossing them all to the side. "Your turn."

"Fenton?" Laura said softly. "Should we…?"

The PI sighed in response. "She said Snake's holding a gun till the right time. Until then, Joe's in danger." He tossed his gun to the side. Laura did the same.

Everyone else just stared at the PI. "That assassin will kill us!" Larry, another man, hissed. "I am not walking into a trap!"

"If we do carry the guns in, Snake will kill Joe."

"The let him-" The words were cut off, as the sound of a gun shooting filled the air.

"That was a warning shot from Snake, I believe," Hawk said. "If you want to back out now, you better leave."

The five men looked at each other. "I'm out," Larry said. The others silently agreed, leaving Fenton and Laura alone. Neither of them protested much.

"They wanted to control the situation," Hawk said. "It's sad, is it not?"

"They have every right to be scared," Fenton mumbled.

"Of course they do. _They _see the pattern of those being killed. They see friends just as corrupt as them-"

"Corrupt?"

"That's what this whole thing has been about, Fenton." There was a smile in her artificial voices, taunting the PI. "They'll get justice upon them, however. Now…" She held out her hand, motioning to the door. "Your son is waiting for you."

Fenton and Laura looked at each other, and walked into the darkness.

-----------------

She walked over to where the two cars were. One was taken by the Hardy couple, while the other were for ithem./i

Hawk watched as the men piled in, driving off towards Bayport.

_Five, four, three, two, one…_

The car was consumed by flame and the sound of explosion, with nothing else in the way of the destruction.

_Too easy._

---------------

*******The two targets didn't hear the people outside talking. Joe could barely hear them himself.

He didn't want to hear them, either.

He struck with the katana, going through the man's arm. The passageway was narrow, set above a huge stack of tires near the wall, only meant for people just to pass over parts of the factory above. It was never meant to be a fighting arena.

He watched the blood leak out of the worn body, still struggling to win. Without a second glance, he turned and struck the other one behind him again. He dragged the metal across the man's chest, marking the path with crimson liquid. He struck again in the chest, turning away as the body fell to the metal floor of the passageway.

The first man was running towards him, blinded by anger and the instincts for survival. Joe held out the katana, and watch as it was engulfed by the stomach.

The man struggled to free himself. "Fucking bastard!"

"First you call me a son of a bitch, which I'm not, since my mother is very nice. Now you're saying my parents are split up, which they aren't," Joe commented, pulling the sword out to allow more blood to flow. "If anything, I'm suspecting that _your_ brain is fucked up."

"You little-"

Joe struck again, using enough force to chop the man's hand off his arm. The scream of pain that filled the warehouse was not as deafening to the blonde, for some reason. Hell, _any_ screams of pain that he had cause had once tormented him. But something changed.

That change wasn't purely good, but didn't seem so bad either in Joe's blue eyes.

"You're killing me because of how I helped you that night?" the man sneered, using one of his last breaths. "I saved you-"

"You used me."

"Yet you helped-"

"I didn't know what I was doing. Should have listened to Frank," Joe said, with a pang of regret. "He was right. You left us in the dark so you could use us-"

"You could have _enjoyed_ what we were doing. You could have enjoyed the riches-"

"You raped and stole and planned to _kill_ all of us," the blonde hissed back. "And you didn't have a regret about what kind of torture you put any of us through. All the ATAC agents meant nothing to you."

"But if you helped, it would have gone unnoticed! And Snake would never be here." He let out a hollow laugh. "And I know who Snake is. I saw him with my very own eyes. Isn't it sad what the world has made him?"

"_You_ made him that way. All part of your fucked up plan-"

"Too bad your brother isn't here to help you. Oh, wait, maybe he-"

The man's head was off his shoulders before the rest of the words came out of his lips. It rolled on the floor, the body collapsing near it.

Before he could stop himself, Joe took the head and slammed it against the rusting rails. The sound of the skull breaking under the pressure made him feel better. After a few times, the blonde tossed the head over his shoulder, before kicking the body to the ground below.

"Joe!"

The call brought him back to reality. His old reality, in a way. His parents were standing a few feet away from where he had kicked the body, each face reflecting what they had seen.

"What's going on, Joe?" his father asked, looking concerned. "Did Snake make you-"

"Snake didn't force me to do this," Joe said clearly. "I _wanted_ to."

"Why…?" his mother said, the word barely escaping her lips.

"Why? Because I wanted to be something that wasn't one of Dad's molds."

"My… molds?" The confused look of Fenton's face made Joe feel better about the situation, for some odd, unknown reason.

"You never cared for us, did you? You were never there when it was important." Joe hissed the last words towards the man. "You only saw things from your point of view. The only things you cared about were your cases. Do you know how much you missed?!"

When his father didn't answer (obviously lost in thought), he continued.

"When you decided between cases and something that was important for Frank or me, you chose the case. When you checked up on us when we were going into a case, all you cared about was us destroying your reputation!"

"I didn't-"

"Yes you did! You cared about what kind of impression we would leave. You wanted to make sure we surpassed any expectations because we were your sons! I never opened my eyes until Frank almost died. He was always better at observing shit like this." He let out a bitter laugh.

"So I was the reason?" Fenton's face paled.

"Not only for that." Joe turned his gaze away from his parents. "Suicide was only the beginning of it. He wanted to defy you in such a way that you would remember. And then ATAC gave him that opportunity."

"Project Assassin Agents."

"That was never its real name. They were actually thinking about calling it Defensive Guards or something." Joe shook his head. "But _you_ decided that just because the agents would get guns that they were assassins."

"They would become killers!"

"Would they? Frank wouldn't have. He would only injure if he had to, but never kill."

"He would in the end!"

"Don't talk about him like you know him! You never knew Frank, and you never will." Joe shot an icy look as his father, before laughing harshly. "But I guess you're right to some degree. Frank wanted to prove you wrong. He wanted to be something else than Fenton Hardy's son."

"But he _died_ because of it!"

"You didn't contradict me," Joe observed. "And who's to say that Frank left this world because of that? He died because that was his second attempt of suicide."

"That wasn't suicide. Snake killed him!"

"Snake _helped_ Frank. He wanted to die because of you, Dad." The blonde pulled a gun out from his back pocket, and casually held it in his hand. "This was that same gun. The one they gave Frank, the one Frank had Snake use to make him disappear."

"You had it all along… and we left the guns outside…"

"I could kill you and avenge Frank's death," Joe commented calmly. "Mom would live, of course. She actually gave a damn."

"Why did you tell me?" Laura asked softly, her first words in the whole conversation.

"You didn't deserve to worry over us. Besides, what could you have done? You already did everything that you could." Bittersweet memories flooded the blonde boy's head, before he forced them out. "It'll be better without us, Mom."

"No!"

He aimed the gun at his father.

"I really did this?" Fenton said, appearing exhausted from understanding the words. "I… I never meant to-"

"Because you never thought about it. Do me a favor. If you want to save everyone else, listen to Snake." He tossed the gun over his parents' heads, into the waiting hands of the shadows. Snake came out, clad in black from head to toe. "It's too late for me."

Snake pulled the trigger three times, ending reality for Joe as he knew it. He stumbled, his hand over the crimson liquid that soaked his jacket, before stumbling off the passageway where the rail had been missing for who knows how long. He fell on the pile of tires left underneath, which hid his body from his parents.

The explosives were only a foot or two away.

---------------

"It was nice having the pleasure of killing both of your boys, Fenton." Snake toss the gun lightly into the air. "A pair who would die for each other."

Fenton turned his head, directing his harden gaze at the assassin. In turn, Snake waved the gun.

"Did you listen to him Fenton? His last words cursing you to your grave." Snake laughed. "Frank wanted to do the same, but he was too tired. Tired of this world and the way you shaped it for him."

Laura was sobbing loudly. Something inside her had shattered into pieces when the sound of gunshots filled the abandoned warehouse.

"So, did your dear husband ever showed you the video of Frank dying?" the assassin asked.

"Video? What?" She looked at the man standing next to her, and cried louder. "You never-"

"Laura, _I_ get nightmares from that video."

"Well, _I_ don't care! I… I want to see my baby. Both of my babies…" She sank to her knees, hiding her face in her hands.

"That could be arranged."

"Stay out of this, Snake!"

"Why should I? You invited me into this mess." An idea suddenly filled his mind. "Hawk?"

"Yes?" His partner answered his call, not bothering to show herself to the couple.

"The chemicals you brought weren't weapons, were they?"

"No, I guess not." Fenton had looked around frantically, trying to pinpoint where the speaker was.

"Then bring her along for the ride. It's no fair for her to suffer, since the children loved her very much."

"Aim the gun, then."

Snake pointed at Laura almost instantly, watching the PI's eyes widen with horror. At the same time, Hawk struck from behind, a needle with just enough substance to knock the woman out. (What exactly said substance was was unknown to Snake. Hawk was the one that dealt in chemicals.) She struck with speed and precision, and within seconds Laura had fallen over, unconscious.

"It'll be a simple kidnapping, Fenton. Try not to turn it into anything else." Snake allowed his smirk to be heard by his tone. The two men watched quietly as Laura was pulled away, the gun still aiming for her heart.

"You monster!" Fenton finally yelled as the two women left.

"I won't hurt her, if that's what you're implying. But don't tempt me."

"Are you trying to kill us all?" The opposing man hissed out the question, eyes filled with rage.

"Not particularly. Only time will tell." He flipped the gun again. "How about this; think of us holding your wife as a sort of protection. We'll return her once this is all done with."

"Who she needs protecting from is you!"

"Nope. Your corrupt enemies are more likely to kill her than us." Snake shook his head. "But then again, you don't know who those enemies are, do you? In a way, this will help you more than it helps us."

"How would you know these people, anyways?"

"They created me," the assassin responded simply. "But let's not talk about the past… How about the here and now? We're killing off your enemies for you, so don't bother trying to figure out who they are. It's already too late in the game to worry about. And as for your younger son's brilliant performance… how about some fireworks to highlight?"

He pulled a remote from his pocket, and pressed one of the buttons. Fenton turned around, just in time to see the explosion.

"We'll talk another time, Fenton. For now, mourn."

* * *

First Frank, now Joe... I feel all sad inside D:


	17. Chapter 16

Last chapter!  
I do not own the Hardy Boys.  
Enjoy!

* * *

Fenton just stared at the house he had considered home for the last couple of decades. IT was empty; that was only the beginning of the list of words that had come to his head during the past hours.

It felt as if he was the last member of the family to survive. He wanted to believe that Laura would be alright, but he couldn't be sure. Those damn assassins have already taken both of his sons, so who was to say she wouldn't be next someday?

_Corruption._ So that's what this had been about all along. But why had the assassins approached the issue the way they did? Couldn't they have done something less drastic?

_Of course not. They're killers, after all._

The phone rang, filling the empty house.

Fenton picked it up, having a feeling that he already knew who was on the other end of the line. "Snake."

_"There are many things that I find interesting about you, Fenton. It's hard to know where to start…"_

"Cut the crap. I want my wife back."

_"Of course you do. But who's to say you don't hate her?"_

"What are you talking about?"

_"You remind me of Rousseau. He was a philosopher during the Enlightenment period. And you know what he said?"_

"I don't-"

_"He hated individual people. They were all savages deep down. However, society as a whole was a good thing. Hated individuals, loved everyone… doesn't it sound familiar?"_

When Fenton didn't respond, the assassin continued.

_"Every person that you've met, you've shunned for one reason or another. You couldn't even love your sons and their flaws. Yet, you stop those you threaten society to make sure that society thrives."_

"I had more reasons than that."

_"So you believe. But I know you better than you know yourself."_ There was some kind of pride in that voice that shook Fenton deep down. _"By the way, there's a package at your front door."_

With that, the assassin hung up.

The first image to strike the PI's mind was the body of his wife, lifeless and bloody, sitting on the front steps. He forced the idea out of his head. No, they wouldn't kill her… At least, he hoped not.

Instead, he was greeted with a familiar-looking box. His heart sank when he saw it.

Quietly, he picked it up and brought it into his study. His mind shielded him from the memory of almost the exact same incident. Even the sight of the jar of ashes and the note _(He should be placed next to his brother.)_, he didn't lash out in anger or fear.

When he placed the two jars of ashes next to each other, all he could do was stare. And once the jars were side by side, by broke out into tears.

--------------

Hawk walked down the stairs quietly, not knowing exactly what to expect. The figure hunched over in the corner wasn't on her list of what she thought she could see, however.

"Snake let you out, then?"

"More like forced me." He let out a hollow chuckle. "He thinks that I'll go crazy since I just died a second time."

"Second time?" She shook her head. "I could of done it instead. Make Fenton vow to kill me for killing Joseph."

"No. You're supposed to drop off the face of existence, remember?" He still didn't take his gaze away from the floor. "No matter what, you have to survive to teach him."

"You act like you'll die. Snake won't let you."

"I know. It's just… I never really gave much thought about how'll it end. What am I supposed to do after this?"

"Move on like the rest of us, I guess." She paused for a moment. "I'm watching Laura too, right?"

"Yeah. You're the babysitter. Snake's gonna be killing like crazy. What else is new?"

She watched the other with wary eyes. "You think your only purpose in life is that one moment, don't you?"

"I _promised_ him, Hawk. I swore that I would do it, or die trying."

"He told you he didn't want you to die. You already died twice, anyways. A third time won't help."

"I know, I know," was the mumbled response she received.

_A lost cause,_ she mused to herself. She turned to go up the stairs, when a sudden thought struck her.

"Is Snake really your id?"

The figure shrugged in response. "I don't know anymore. I don't _care_ anymore. He's just the other side of the coin that lives within me."

"And you don't care which side is facing up."

"Not anymore. For all I care, Snake could take over."

---------------

The gun fit in his hand with ease. He didn't understand why, but it just did. Not that he was in the mood to question it.

"Are you going to say goodbye?" Hawk asked quietly. "He has a death wish, after all."

"Yeah. Whatever."

He held onto the gun, his new partner in life.

---------------

Laura sat quietly, crying. _It shouldn't have been this way…_

But she couldn't do anything about it. The problem had been taken out of her hands long ago.

_It's not fair! They shouldn't be the ones to suffer…_

But even as she thought about what she could possibly do, she realized it was too late.

_If only…_

-----------------

Snake watched quietly as the car disappeared from sight. It was his job now. His and his alone.

The others were gone. No more support. Only emptiness and the shadows were behind him.

_"I want both of you to surpass me."_

_"You must be kidding."_

_"If you both surpass me, we'll be fine."_

_"No. Were all gonna get better. All at the same level, knowing different things. We'll be unstoppable that way."_

Unstoppable was a good goal to aim for. It wouldn't be too hard to reach, either. After all, one had to be close to the top spot in order to kill both Franklin and Joseph Hardy.

_And that's only the beginning. Right Fenton?_

* * *

This chapter is short, but there are some clues about Snake in there. However, if you have any idea/guess about Snake, please do not ask through a review. If you must, you can message be (but more than likely, I won't tell you straight out if you're right or not).

There is going to be a sequel. "Shattering the Glass" will be rated T, however, because I'm saving the blood for later times.

Finally, a giant thank you to everyone who read (and reviewed, if accplicable) this!


End file.
